


A Muse Me

by eddiespegnerti



Category: IT (2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Art, Coming Out, Flirting, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Jealousy, Kissing, Minor Violence, Multi, Pining, So look out for that, Swearing, There are a couple of trigger warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2018-05-16
Packaged: 2019-02-13 05:50:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 26,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12977403
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eddiespegnerti/pseuds/eddiespegnerti
Summary: Eddie sucks at art, so of course, with his luck, he’d be forced to take a class on it. It doesn’t help that there’s a boy in it who is totally checking him out. Eddie has no idea how to handle either of these issues.But now, he has to face them both head on.





	1. Ben Hanscom

Eddie bounced on his bed aimlessly, looking at Mike and Bill wearily as they pitched their idea to him. He started college a few months ago, deciding to follow in Bill’s footsteps because he didn’t trust his mom to pick a school for him. Looking into it’s opportunities, Eddie decided it was good enough. Plus, he’d have Bill with him the entire way whilst he transitioned to life without his mother. Of course, she wasn’t happy about the idea of him leaving her sights, but he guessed he convinced her well enough, because here he was.

Thankfully, he got roomed with Bill, along with another student, Mike, who they became friendly with really quickly. So quickly, that Eddie was comfortable enough to dance around to his music while the other boy was in the room. The best thing about it, though, was that Bill didn’t always have to be the middleman between them. Eddie could talk to Mike alone about his own issues, and that was pretty great for him.

Now, the two were convincing him to take an art class with one of their friends. His name was Ben. Eddie had never met him, but after a while, he learned that his friends had English with him, and had apparently gotten on pretty well.

This had all come up simply with the fact that Eddie had a required arts credit to fulfill, and the two boys insisted that he sign up with Ben for one of the drawing classes the school offered. Eddie wasn’t too worried about Ben, that wasn’t the problem. He had a feeling they’d get along well, considering how well his friends got along with him, and how well he got along with his friends. He was more concerned about the drawing part.

Eddie was not good at art.

“Come o-on Eddie. It’s a required art credit a-anyways, so they don’t really expect you to be a-a-amazing at it,” Bill said exasperatedly.

“Yeah,” Mike piped in, “and either way, if you work with Ben, he could help you out with that stuff.”

“And if not, just make a piece out of words. Th-That never did anybody wr-wrong,” Bill gave Eddie a chipper smile, and he groaned, covering his eyes.

“Fine! I’ll take the stupid art class!”

Bill and Mike grinned to each other cheekily, and Eddie couldn’t help from giggling, throwing a pillow at them in his wake.

 

 

After their talk, Eddie finally got on his way to his Latin class, meeting up with Stan and Beverly at the entrance.

On his first day there, Eddie had sat down next to Beverly. He had had his earbuds in then, and to introduce herself, she had taken one of them out, and put it into her own. Beverly giggled, reveling in the fact that he was listening to ‘It’s Raining Men’. Of course, Eddie was horrified. Thankfully, she had introduced her name after, and decided to be his friend because he was ‘pretty cool’. They’ve been talking ever since, and they got along great.

Stan on the other hand, had already been friends with Beverly. They met in the school’s laundry room, where both of them had chosen the same detergent. Beverly noticed this and used the same pick-up line she had used on Eddie. Stan had smiled, and apparently, they talked a bunch while they waited for their laundry to finish.

Eddie had met Stan through Beverly, and he wasn’t very friendly at first, thinking Eddie wouldn’t be too serious when Beverly told him what he was listening to. Eddie was, of course, horrified again. But, they had really started talking in the bathroom, washing their hands. Eddie tried him again, asking how he met Beverly, and giving notes about his views on Latin. Stan had told and agreed with him, and after talking, Stan realized Eddie could be serious, and that they were alike in some ways.

Eddie walked with both of them into the classroom, sitting down at his desk while the two sat around him. Stan took a desk to his left, while Beverly sat at the one in front of him, facing backwards.

Eddie took a moment, and then said, “I have to take an arts class.”

The two waited for him to go on.

“Aaand my friends want me to sign up for one with this kid named Ben? Like, I haven’t even met him, but should I? Before I meet him in class?”

“Wait,” Beverly startled, “Is this an art arts class?”

Eddie nodded, sucking his bottom lip into his mouth. Beverly looked at him, “Well that sucks, because we’re taking the music course…”

He frowned, “And I suck at art, but I don’t want to be a dick!” He put his hands up to his face with a groan.

“Well…” Stan piped up, “maybe you’ll improve if you take it.”

Eddie nodded solemnly, and then looked back to Beverly again, “So should I meet up with him?”

“Why not?” Beverly said excitedly, “Maybe we could come, too!”

“Oh God…” Stan said, putting his head between his legs.

“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun! What if he’s this awesome guy, and a perfect addition to our little group?”

“Beverly, he wants to take an art class,” Stan groaned, “How awesome do you think he’ll be?”

Beverly shot him a look, “Well F.Y.I. Stan, Eddie here is going to be taking that art class. Isn’t he awesome?”

“Sure,” Stan said, and Eddie gave him the middle finger, chuckling. He grinned.

“Well, if you’re not going Stan, I’ll go.”

“No no, I’ll go it’s fine,” he said flustered. “Where and when?”

Beverly pretended to mull it over for a second, and then said, “The Pavilion. 7:00.”

“Okay,” Eddie said, pulling his phone out, “I’ll text Mike to let him know.”

 

 

“Shit!” Eddie cried, and Bill turned his head around to him from the couch.

“What’s wr-wrong?”

Eddie huffed, throwing down the shirt he had in his hand, “I don’t know if I’m supposed to wear something fancy or not.”

“We-Well, where a-are you going?” Bill walked up to his side, looking at him quizzically.

“The Pavilion.”

“Well,” Bill mused, “what does Pavilion sound like?”

“Fancy…” Eddie pouted and rolled his eyes. Bill and his goddamned writing skills.

After a moment, Eddie decided on a navy blue polo with dark pants. He made his way out of their dorm, shouting a goodbye to Bill, and hopped into the elevator. He exited the building, and made his way to the entrance of The Pavilion, straightening his shirt, patting himself down, and then entering.

“Hello, I’m Ava. How may I help you?”

“Hi, Eddie-”

“Oh, your tables’ waiting for you, sir. I’ll lead you to it.”

Eddie furrowed his brows, and followed the waitress, making his way through the dimly lit room to one of the booths. Already seated, was Stan, Beverly, and apparently Ben. The waitress left, and Beverly turned to him, smiling brightly, “Eddie!” Then, turning to Ben, “The guest of honor!”

Eddie sat down next to Stan, who was on the other side of Ben and Beverly. Ben was a shorter, rounder man, with light hair and glasses. Eddie pointed to them stupidly.

“Oh, I don’t always need these,” Ben said before taking them off. His eyes were a chestnut brown.

Eddie looked to his friends, his brows furrowed once again, “Wait… Am I late? What happened?”

“No,” Beverly said, looking at him softly, “we were just waiting for you, and decided to get a table while we were at it.”

“Sorry,” Eddie smiled apologetically to Ben, who only waved his hand to him, nonplussed.

“So, I was thinking more concrete art like drawing?” Ben asked, taking a sip of his drink, “I-If that’s okay with you?”

“Sure,” Eddie smiled weakly. “I’ve got to be honest with you, I’m not too good at art.”

“Me neither,” Ben shook his head.

“What?” Eddie looked at him, surprised, before the waitress came around again to take their orders. Ben got a cheeseburger, Bev the salmon, and Stan ordered the wedge salad. Eddie just got the chicken, along with a Shirley Temple. Beverly always commented on that, saying, ‘no wonder we’re friends.’ The waitress left, putting them back into their conversation.

‘What?”

Ben chuckled, “Yeah, I’m good at architecture, not sketching up a piece of fruit.”

Eddie sighed at this, looking up to the heavens, “Oh thank God, I thought I’d be the only one.”

“Eddie,” Ben leaned forward to him, his hands clasped underneath his chest, “It’s a required credit, nobody’s going to be that amazing.”

“Bill said the same thing to me,” Eddie chuckled, amused.

Ben grinned, pulling back, “Well that’s because I gave him the point.”

“Okay…” Eddie nodded, “Why not?”

 

 

Thankfully, Eddie only had Latin, and now art, on Fridays. After his first class, Ben had met up with the three of them to offer Eddie a ride. He accepted, and they talked for a bit before he got into Ben’s silver Lexus, driving off. Eddie thinks he wouldn’t mind riding with Ben every now and then to class. It was pretty comfortable.

They pull up to the brown building, Ben hopping out of the driver’s seat in a sweatshirt and jeans, while Eddie got out of the passenger’s seat in another polo. The two walked up to the entrance, and through the halls to the drawing room. The inside was painted a light gray, and the floor was wooden. At the front of the room was a desk and white board. The back held a large window, light spewing down through it’s pane. The middle of the room held 15 desks that sat in a circle, and Eddie plopped down into one. Ben sat down to his right.

Eddie waited nervously as the rest of the class piled in. There was a girl with short brown hair, a guy with coke-bottle glasses, and another girl with a high ponytail. The teacher walked into the center of the circle of desks, clearing her throat and then smiling warmly, “Hello everyone! I’m Mrs. Brewer and welcome to visual arts. Now, from signing up, I hope you all know that this is a drawing class…”

Most of the people chuckled, including Ben. Eddie just stared blankly at her. She coughed, and then continued, “So, with this class you’ll need some certain materials...”

Eddie reached into his bag and pulled out his notebook, writing things down as she said them. At a pause, Eddie looked up and bristled. The guy with the coke-bottle glasses sat across from him, looking at him with an amused expression. Their eyes met for a second, and even though Eddie was a little defensive, he couldn’t look away from him. The guy had a mess of dark hair, and large brown eyes. Tiny freckles dotted the plane of his face, and his thick lips were held in a smirk.

Eddie felt his face heating up, and looked back down to his notebook, quickly, to hide his blush.

Mrs. Brewer then began to explain the criteria of their class, “Now, for freshmen, I believe it is important to get to know everyone. You’ll hopefully be working with these people for the next four years here. So, I’m going to pair you guys up with a partner for the rest of this one. You’ll be working on different projects, that consist of you taking inspiration from the other person.”

Eddie accidentally looked over at the guy across from him again, who didn’t realize he was watching when he tried to subtly look him over. Eddie took a sip of the water he brought, and decided to prop his folder up to hide his growing blush.

“Now, it’s scary, I know. It may even get a little bit personal. But isn’t that what art is all about?”

Maybe it wasn’t accidental, because Eddie found himself staring again. They didn’t make eye contact this time, but Eddie watched as the other man used his pencil to carve into his desk, leaning his head on his other hand. She continued with fire drill procedures and safety precautions, before saying,

“Well, I’ve covered just about everything, so why don’t we get started?” Mrs. Brewer walked over to her desk, rifling through one of its drawers and pulling out a manilla folder. She walked back to the center, opening it.

“Now, when I assign you your partner, I’d like you to get up, so you know who they are, and then sit where I tell you to. It’s just easier for me if you sit next to your partner. I’ll get used to it after a while.”

Eddie looked over at Ben, who was staring at him with his fingers crossed. They gave each other a faint smile.

“Alright,” she pulled out a paper from the folder. “First pair is: Ben Hanscom and Sarah Barton.”

Eddie wilted, surprised, and watched as Ben and the girl with the short brown hair got up.

“If you guys could sit in these two seats?” Mrs. Brewer pointed to two desks in one of the corners of the circle. They sat down next to each other, Ben looking over at Eddie with an apologetic frown, before he turned to Sarah to introduce himself.

“Next up, is Eddie Kaspbrak and Richie Tozier.”

Eddie stood up, piling his things into his arms. He looked around. Who was his partner?

And then, he looked in front of him, where the boy with the coke-bottle glasses got up, making eye contact with him once again. His stomach dropped.

“I’d like you two to sit over here, please,” Mrs. Brewer’s voice startled Eddie. He looked over at the two desks she pointed to. He sighed a bit. At least he’d be next to Ben.

They walked over, Richie moving aside to let Eddie go first through the desks. Eddie glared at him, sitting down.

“So…” Richie said, before Eddie turned his head to Ben, trying to make conversation with him. He wilted, putting his tongue into his cheek and leaning forward.

“Hey,” Eddie said to Ben, and he turned to him. “At least we get to sit near each other.”

“Yeah,” Ben grinned, and Eddie guessed that was the end of the conversation. He sighed, turning his head back to the kid named Richie.

“So…” Eddie said, repeating his phrase. Richie turned to him with a grin, and stuck out his hand.

“Richie Tozier.”

Eddie took it, and shivered at the butterflies he felt in his stomach as their fingers brushed together, “Eddie Kaspbrak.”

“So why are you here, Eds?” Richie asked, and Eddie cringed at the nickname. He looked forward, “Don’t call me that.”

“Alright, Eds,” Richie chuckled. “So why are you here? You looked like a ghost had crawled into your rectum back there.”

Eddie pouted, glaring down at his desk, “I’m fine... Art just isn’t my thing.”

“Yup me neither.”

Eddie looked down at the scribbles on the other man’s desk, sighing, “Yeah right.”

“Yes right.”

“Well okay,” Eddie mused, pointing at it. The drawing looked a lot like him, if he did say so himself. “I guess you’ve already got the whole thing down, then.”

Eddie thought he might have gotten to Richie, but he just smirked at him, “Well, I guess it’s cute when you blush so much.”

Eddie’s eyes widened, and the heat in his face was on cue. He grabbed his folder, propping it up again to his side, and ended their conversation. To his abhorrence, Eddie was still blushing by the end of the day.


	2. Partner

Eddie put the pale yellow polo he had grabbed from his closet over his head. He looked to Bill and Mike, who sat on the couch waiting for him, and pulled on his light blue jeans before hopping over in front of them. Eddie splayed his arms out, revealing his outfit. The two gave him a thumbs up, they were also dressed nicely, and the three of them walked out of their dorm together and into the elevator.

After class that Friday, Beverly had called him to see how it went. Eddie was lying down on his bed, smiling brightly as he told her about it. He informed her about Ben, the criteria of the art class, and about what had happened with Richie.

“Oooh,” Bev said, and Eddie imagined the shit eating grin she held on the other end. “Sounds like a cu-tie! Totally into you. Just saying.” Eddie rolled his eyes at her, but the smile was still on his face.

“Well… I’m going to have to spend the entire year with him. Mrs. Brewer told us that it might even get personal.”

“Sounds hot,” Beverly said, and they went on until nine at night. Eddie had gone into the kitchen after, and had found Bill scribbling at the counter. Of course, his arts credit was creative writing.

“Hey,” Eddie said, opening up the fridge to rifle through it aimlessly.

“Hey,” Bill said, and put his pencil down, looking up at him. “How’d it go?”

Eddie nodded, “Not as bad as I thought it would be.” 

“We-Well great!” Bill said, smiling. “We should ce-celebrate!”

“Really?” Eddie leaned against the counter and looked at him, his brows furrowed.

“Why n-not? Everybody c-can meet up, get to kn-know each other, a-and have some f-f-fun.”

Eddie shrugged, “Why not?”

So here they were the next night, trio coming up to Ava at the welcome podium. She led them through the restaurant, which dimly lit a dark wooden design. In the middle of all of the tables was a stage, and on that stage was a piano. A man in a sharp black suit sat at it, and before him was a girl in a shiny black dress, singing slowly into her microphone.

Ava led them to the corner of the room this time, to one of the bigger booths. Eddie saw that Stan, Beverly, and Ben were already there, as usual, and that Ben had invited Sarah and… Richie. Eddie felt his stomach tingle. It could have signaled something good or bad, but either way, he was nervous. The three of them sat down, Eddie and Richie at either end.

Richie looked over at him with a grin, and Eddie wanted to shoot his goddamned brains out, because he couldn’t stop blushing every time he did. He grabbed at his menu quickly, opening it up and standing it on it’s end, hiding his face from the other boy.

Bill, who was sitting next to Eddie, looked at him quizzically. Eddie shuffled the menu over so he could talk to him, still shielding Richie from his view, “Can you ask Ben why he fucking invited him?”

Bill nodded, his brows furrowed, and passed it on through the line to the man in question. Eddie put his menu down to look at Ben, waiting for his answer. He tried to ignore Richie still, who was staring at him through his peripheral vision.

“You know, you’re going to have to get to know him sometime Eddie,” Ben finally said, and Eddie gaped at him. What the fuck!?

Richie looked over to Ben when he said this, and now stared at Eddie again with another smirk. He opened his mouth, and Eddie bristled, “You know, Ben, I think Beverly’s getting to know your partner for you.”

They all looked over to Beverly and Sarah. The two apparently had been whispering to each other, before they looked up at the boys guiltily.

Eddie looked in front of himself to Richie, grinning at his rescue. Richie looked back at him, smiling and giving him a wink. Eddie blushed again, feeling the butterflies grow stronger. This time though, he let it stay, only looking down instead of hiding his entire face.

Everyone eventually ordered, enjoying their meals and getting to know each other. Beverly decided that everyone should have shots, and everyone except Eddie moved on to full drinks after that.

Eddie opened up to Richie slowly, listening as the latter blabbered on about how well he could keep down his alcohol, and how easily he could get into Eddie’s mom’s pants. Maybe he wasn’t as bad as his jokes, but it’ll take some time.

 

 

The next week had everyone excited. After the dinner party, everyone began hanging out with each other. They just clicked. Throughout the week, Eddie noticed Bill had Stan over quite a lot. Whenever Stan would look away anytime Mike was in the room, the latter would look at Bill with a knowing smirk, and Bill would either hit him, or throw something at him. Eddie wondered what that was about.

Days passed, and it was Friday again. Eddie woke up early in the morning to do his laundry, walking down to the laundry room in a tank top and sweatpants. He placed his quarter into the slot of one of the machines, and headed down the aisle to grab some detergent.

There, he found Bev, who was apparently texting somebody with a big smile on her face.

“Hey,” Eddie said, grinning at her and then yawning tiredly.

Beverly looked up at him, taking a moment before beaming once again, “Hey, Eddie.”

He nodded to her phone, “Who are you talking to?”

“Just Sarah,” she said, locking it and putting it away in the pocket of her jeans, “we’ve been talking for a while after the party, and she’s got some great taste in music. You would like her.”

Eddie nodded again, looking around the laundry room.

“Speaking of people you like,” Beverly piped up again, “how’s Tozier?”

“What?” Eddie looked over at her sharply.

“Richie. How’s the flirty boy doing?”

“How should I know?” Eddie said, looking down to his feet and then around again.

Beverly raised her eyebrows at him, and splayed her hands out dubiously, “Don’t tell me you didn’t hangout after the party!?”

“Why would I?”

“Eddie,” Beverly said, clasping her hands together, “you do realize this boy is crazy into you, right? So what’s so scary about meeting him halfway? For God’s sake, you’re practically ignoring him! His tire’s going to go flat before you two even have a decent conversation.”

Eddie furrowed his brows, “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m saying, let your gay flag fly boy, because you two have some heat. If you don’t tend it, houses are going to burn down.”

 

 

After his conversation with Beverly, Eddie went to Latin class, where both of his friends were texting the entire time. Enduring that, he then hopped into Ben’s Lexus on his way to their art class. As they drove, Eddie looked over at Ben and asked, “So, did you have fun Saturday?”

“Yeah,” Ben said, smiling as he remembered that night. “I had a great time. Your friends are pretty cool.”

Eddie nodded, looking forward again, “How’s your partner?”

“She’s good. I think,” Ben said as he turned the wheel. “I’ve been texting her, but it doesn’t seem like she’s super interested.”

“Oh,” Eddie grunted. “Well I know she’s been talking to Beverly a lot. Maybe she’s just been busy.”

“No,” Ben chuckled. “I mean interested interested.”

“Oh…” Eddie said. “Right.”

They pulled into the parking lot of the arts building, making their way to class. As Eddie entered the room, he noticed Richie was already there. He looked up, seeing who came in, and then gave him the most hopeful expression ever. Eddie sighed, and made his way towards him, sitting down in his new seat. He plopped his bag down in-between their desks, and leaned over to pull out his folder. As he just got hold of it, he felt a hand grab his wrist. Richie looked down into his bag, seeing the object he was trying to pull out, and then looked back up at him solemnly before whispering,

“Talk to me.”

Eddie felt his stomach pull, and looked down guiltily at the folder in between his fingers. He put it down and extracted his arm. Eddie felt himself shiver when Richie grazed his fingers over his hand pulling away, and melted at the smile he gave him. They stared at each other, Richie tapping his fingers on his desk, before asking, “Do you want to hangout after school sometime? Just you and me?”

Eddie looked at him for a moment, inquiring, before giving him a one shouldered shrug, “I guess.”

Richie grinned again slowly, his lips curling back into a toothy smile, “Okay. Where do you want to go?”

“It was your idea,” Eddie said a little bit too harshly, and then felt bad. “I don’t know. What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking about how cute you are, Eds,” Richie whispered to him, and Eddie broke out into another flustered blush. “Want to go to the movies? They’re going to be playing some of the old classic 80’s horror movies at 9:00 tonight.”

Eddie smirked. Now they were kind of getting somewhere. Eddie loved the 80’s.

“Sounds good.”

Mrs. Brewer came into the center of the desks, greeting everyone with a smile before saying, “Now, I think it’s about time we start our first project! To begin, I’d like to say that people come and go from our lives, and that every single one of them is there to teach you something. Going off of that, I’d like you to make a picture of how people have affected you throughout your life, plus, what impact you think your partner might have on it.”

Eddie looked up at her and thought for a minute. Richie. What would Richie do for him? Annoy him, that’s what. Eddie looked over at the man in question. He was doodling in his notebook this time, making a chart of names and checking off symbols of yay or nay next to each one. Eddie squinted, and realized that it was a list of the movies they had out in theaters.

Okay, maybe he wasn’t that annoying.

Eddie thought for a minute, but couldn’t really conjecture an idea. It might be a little bit.

 

 

Eddie stood outside of the movie theater, bouncing on his feet as he shivered in the cold. It was already becoming winter, much to his dismay, and the temperature had dropped surprisingly quickly. He looked around, watching as people came in and out of the building. Groups of friends talking excitedly about the movie they were going to see. Couples laughing together about the one they just had.

Eddie sighed, and a puff of white mist channeled along the air. As he watched through the crowd, he soon noticed Richie’s magnified glasses and waved to him half-heartedly. Richie saw him and ran forward, stopping in front of him.

“Hey,” he said, a little out of breath.

“Hey,” Eddie said, smiling a bit. Richie towered over him by an inch, and was wearing a dark jacket over his white tee-shirt. He looked around to the entrance of the movie theater and pointed to it.

“Let’s go inside.”

The two walked in, and Eddie felt his skin prickle at the change in temperature. Richie walked over to his right, going up to the ticket booth and asking for two. Eddie came up next to him, pulling out the 20 dollar bill he brought, and handed it over to Richie. Richie turned around to him, and shook his head, grabbing the two tickets from the lady behind the counter and handing her his own money. Eddie sighed, and they walked over to the concessions, Richie putting an arm over his shoulder.

“Oh come on, Eds. What kind of a gentleman would I be if I didn’t pay for you?”

Eddie sneered, “This isn’t a date, you know.”

“O-kay,” Richie said, taking his arm off and holding it up in mock surrender.

They entered the theater, Eddie holding a water and a packet of Twizzlers, which he insisted on buying himself, and Richie with a bucket of popcorn and a Coke. They sat in the back, Eddie following Richie up the carpeted stairs, and found two seats right in the middle. They sat down, Eddie starting up his phone to try and see if he could text one of his friends, when Richie turned to him.

“So, have you ever seen this movie before?”

Eddie looked over at him, “No. My mom didn’t like me watching scary movies.”

“Really?” Richie said curiously. He then thought about it and shrugged, “Makes sense. The first time I saw this, I didn’t sleep for a week.”

Eddie chuckled, “How romantic...”

Richie grinned over at him cheekily, “I thought you said this wasn’t a date?”

Eddie furrowed his brows and then groaned, “No! It isn’t!”

“Well, don’t worry. It isn’t scary now-a-days. Still a good movie, though,” Richie leaned back in his chair, still smiling.

The movie began soon after that, Richie and Eddie facing forwards to watch the screen. It was pretty scary, to say the least. The jumpscares always got to Eddie. Richie’s hand was laying open on his armrest, and when the first one came, Eddie had taken it into his own, and hadn’t let go until the credits started rolling.


	3. Pointing Fingers

Beverly felt like a lawyer at this point. Now-a-days, Richie would always come to her about his problems, which were mostly about Eddie.

On the other hand, mostly later in the day, Eddie would come to her about Richie.

God, just date.

Beverly, of course, then let her stresses out to Sarah, who probably felt more like a therapist than her girlfriend.

She had been hanging out with her ever since the party, and they had a real connection. The whole dating thing started when they had texted each other at four a.m. about how lonely they both were. Beverly did have her friends, but they were all boys, of course. Sarah had mentioned her love life, and to put it bluntly, Beverly had snuck out to go make-out with her in her dorm.

She hasn’t told her friends about it, but she guessed they’d figure it out soon enough.

Each boy had their own schedule to follow with her. Again, like therapy. Eddie would talk to her at night on the phone, while Richie would hangout with her after classes in the afternoon.

That’s why Beverly was surprised when Eddie met up with her at 4:30 in the afternoon on a Wednesday.

She was at the laundromat, and had invited Richie over so they could chat. He had texted her earlier in the day about needing to talk to her, when all of a sudden, Eddie walked into the room, already heading straight for her. She turned to him, having just started the machine, and listened as he began. Beverly was still waiting on Richie to come over anyways.

Little did she know, he had come in the minute Eddie started talking to her.

“I’m done with this!” He said, putting his hands up in finality, “I had the weirdest dream last night, and of course, Richie was there. This can’t be normal, right?”

Beverly grinned knowingly towards him, “You know it’s normal, Eddie.”

“Do I?” He asked huffing, and leaned against one of the machines exasperatedly.

“Well… what happened in your dream?”

Eddie paused for a moment, a little distracted, before shaking his head rapidly, “That doesn’t matter.” Beverly smirked once again.

“Ugh… I just don’t know what I’m doing! He makes me so nervous and I love it, but then again I barely know him.”

“Well get to know him,” Beverly turned fully towards him now, and put her hands in her pockets.

“I don’t know how, though… It’s stupid, I know, but I just don’t want to fuck anything up. Like if we hug, where do I put my hands? If we kiss-” Eddie wilted a bit during his rant, gazing down at the floor hopelessly. Beverly looked at him and put a hand onto his shoulder.

“Don’t worry. You’ll know what to do when the time comes. I doubt he has anymore experience with relationships than you do, Eddie. He really wants to be with you, and I think you should just talk to him. See where it goes. Work on being his friend, and get to know him before you skip ahead and become all nervous.”

Eddie nodded, and smiled up at her, Beverly reciprocating the gesture. As she looked at the man, she then noticed Richie over his shoulder. He was leaning against the doorway, looking stunned beyond belief. They made eye contact, and Bev subtly pointed at Eddie with her finger for his confirmation.

Richie’s face broke out into a blushed smile, and he reached up to fix his glasses timidly. He recovered quickly, and then decided to make a move, crawling up behind Eddie and pouncing on him with his hands around his waist, crying out, “Good afternoon, beautifuls!”

Eddie screeched, which made the other people in the room turn their heads, and turned around to hit Richie with his hands.

He looked down, and the latter took his hands off his hips nervously, “I was just coming in to talk with Bev, if you want to join us?”

Eddie shook his head, already on his heels out of the room, “No thanks, I’ve got to head to one of my classes.”

Once he was gone, Richie whipped his head over to Beverly, his eyes wide with excitement.

“I’m guessing you heard everything he told me?” Bev asked with a smirk on her lips.

Richie nodded to her slowly, a grin on his face as well. Beverly chuckled, “Spit it out.”

“Holy shit.”

 

 

Eddie huffed as he looked over at Richie’s drawing. The next few classes in Mrs. Brewer’s course had them already sketching up their ideas for their project.

Richie was quickly doodling away at his paper, his tongue stuck out of the corner of his mouth in a cute manner. Eddie looked down at his own page, which was as blank as his mind. He had plenty ideas of what other people in his life had done for him over time, but still had no clue about Richie. Eddie sighed again, and caved in asking him for his help. He turned to Richie in his seat, “Hey, Rich?”

The latter boy popped up immediately, looking at Eddie a little too enthusiastically, and smirking at the nickname. Eddie internally rolled his eyes at him. He couldn’t really be that into me, right?

“I need your help.”

The two looked over Eddie’s ideas together, Richie being oddly sincere about the negative parts, and finally came up with an overall plan of the representation.

“We could draw a flower, right? And each petal could be healthy or rotting based on if the experience was positive or negative. You could add patterns or certain colors to each one to identify the person. What do you think?”

Eddie looked up at Richie with a smirk, “This is a great idea.”

“Sure,” Richie said disbelievingly.

Eddie tapped his arm lightly with his finger, “Hey, it’s better than what I can do… last thing, could you help a bit with the drawing part?”

“Sure,” Richie said. Before Eddie could say anything, Richie leaned forward and placed his hand over his, helping the former in leading his pencil along the paper. Eddie felt a tingle rise in his stomach, and he gulped, feeling a rush of confidence arise as he decided to intertwine his fingers with Richie’s.

The pencil stopped for a minute, but Eddie didn’t dare look up at the other man. After a moment, it began drawing again, and Eddie stared in wonderment at the objects Richie could create.

When he finished, Richie let go of the pencil and pulled his hand back under the table.

Eddie leaned forward to look at Richie’s paper, “What do you have so far?”

“What, this?” Richie looked down to his drawing, casually glazing it over and then answering, “Well, mine’s basically the same concept, except it’s a big messy ass spiral instead of a flower.”

“Why a spiral?”

Richie shrugged, “That’s just what I consider my life to be like.”

Eddie was going to ask Richie about that, but then looked down at his own project, furrowing his brows, “So then why do I have a flower?”

Richie stayed silent, his shoulders coming down a bit.

“Come on, Richie. You can tell me.”

He sighed, looking up and over at Eddie, “We-Well I just think… I don’t know.”

Eddie gave him a second, looking at the other man with curiosity.

“I just think that you have a lot of potential, and that the people around you aren’t allowing you to blossom.”

“Are you saying that Bill and everyone are a bad influence on me?”

“No! That’s not what I’m saying,” Richie turned to him dubiously. “I’m saying maybe before you met them…”

“And that’s like a flower?”

“Yes, it is,” Richie said, and then grabbed Eddie’s pencil again, plopping it’s point down onto one of the corners of his drawing.

“Moving on, I have a section on this side here that talks about what your mom has done for me,” Richie gave him a flirtatious wink, “and will do for me.”

Eddie guessed that was all Richie had to say about the matter.

 

 

Richie sat on top of the kitchen counter, popping Skittles into his mouth as he talked to Bill. Bill looked at him amusedly from the couch in his living room, and sighed, changing the subject they had been on.

“I don’t know what I should get for Eddie for his birthday…”

Richie furrowed his brows, “His birthday’s coming up?”

“Yeah,” Bill said, getting up to grab a beer from the fridge.

“Well, what does he like?”

He took a sip from his drink, sitting back down on the couch, “I don’t know. He likes music…”

“There you go! Get him a Walkman.”

“Why a Walkman?”

“Dude, why not?” Richie gesticulated excitedly.

“I don’t know... Why don’t we ask Beverly?”

Bill pulled his phone out, and Richie ran forward to sit on the arm of the couch. He leaned forward, and voiced a ‘hello’ to the red-head.

“I like it, Richie. What if Bill got the Walkman, and then we could provide the tapes!”

“Sounds cool,” Richie said, nodding his head. “What music does he like? Give us the dirty details.” He looked over at the man next to him and wiggled his eyebrows.

Bill raised his head and looked over at Richie, “I’d say the top 10 most classic 80’s songs.”

“Definitely It’s Raining Men,” Beverly piped up through the phone.

Richie cackled at this, “God, he’s so cute.”

Bill furrowed his brows, questioning. Richie cleared his throat, fixing his glasses guiltily, before Bev interrupted them, “I swear to God, Richie…”

“Okay!” Richie cried, trying to avert the subject, “So Bill’s on the Walkman, Bev’s got the classics, and I’ve got my songs.”

“What do you mean?” Bill asked him, before Richie put a finger over his mouth, shushing him.

“You’ll have to ask Bev,” Richie ran off and out of Bill’s dorm, already set on working on his project.

Beverly groaned on the other end of the phone, and Bill jumped, realizing he was still calling her.

“I guess I’m doing every 80’s song that doesn’t have to do with love then… I’m fucked.”

“Wait, what?”

 

 

After a half hour of Mrs. Brewer talking to the class, Eddie realized Richie wasn’t coming. The day started with her going over tactics in art, and then they were free to work on their pieces. Eddie tried using her advice to continue his, but missed Richie’s help and company. After a full hour, Sarah noticed this, and tried to talk to Eddie while they worked. It started off slow, but soon Eddie opened up to her, and they were laughing by the end of the day.

Shyly, Eddie walked up to Mrs. Brewer once class was over.

“H-Hey Mrs. Brewer?”

The teacher turned to him, in the middle of packing up, and gave him a small smile, “Yes?”

“Um… my partner wasn’t in today, and I was just curious if you knew why?”

“Yours is Richie, right?”

Eddie nodded his head.

“Well, when I came in this morning, I found him in here creating a project. Turns out he’d been there all night working on it. I sent him home to go get some sleep.”

Eddie furrowed his brows. That was kind of odd for Richie.

He thanked her, and then left the room, hopping into Ben’s car and making his way back home.

 

 

The next morning had Eddie waking up to a loud ringing in his ears. He opened his eyes blearily, and looked over to his phone on his nightstand. As he picked it up, he heard Bill groan from the other room. Eddie guessed it woke him up too.

“Hello?”

“Happy birthday!”

Eddie furrowed his brows.

“Mom?”

“Yes! Happy birthday, Eddie Bear!”

Eddie looked over at his nightstand, once again, to the alarm clock he kept there.

“It’s 5:30 in the morning. What are you doing?”

His mother cleared her throat across the line, “Well, I was thinking maybe you could come over for the day to have lunch with me and Aunties Kathy and Susie.”

Eddie closed his eyes for a moment and looked up to the heavens. Oh my God. He put on a fake smile, even though he knew she couldn’t see it, out of habit.

“Sure. That sounds great, Mommy.”

“Perfect! I’ll see you in a couple of hours!”

Before Eddie could ask incredulously why he needed to be there for seven, if they were only having lunch, his mother hung up. He sighed, and proceeded to get ready for the train station.

At exactly 7:10, Eddie finally walked back into his childhood home. He cringed a bit as he looked around, noticing how nothing seemed to change since he left. He was told by his friends that usually when you leave for college, your parents like to change things up a bit, or even get rid of some things. His mom did nothing. Everything was waiting for him right here.

Eddie’s Mom greeted him at the entrance, and then led him through the hallway to the kitchen, where his two aunts were seated at the kitchen table. Aunt Kathy was a large woman like his mother, while Aunt Susie was at a thinner level. They both looked up as he entered, and Aunt Kathy got up to pinch his cheeks excitedly. Eddie was pretty sure her chair stuck to her for a second, before falling back down onto the tile of the kitchen floor.

“Oh, Eddie! You’re getting so old! It feels like yesterday when you were just a little tyke!”

Eddie pretended to giggle and then said, “Yeah…”

His mother led him towards the table, and he sat down while Aunt Susie began one of her monologues. Eddie was pretty sure she could go on forever and never get tired. She mostly talked about her 100-year old dog, Moochie.

His mother brought over the food, a large turkey dinner, before sitting down and popping the questions.

“So how is school going?” She said through a mouthful of food.

Eddie picked at his plate with his fork, “It’s good.”

“You make any friends? I don’t want to have you away from me for so long if it’s not worth it.”

“Yeah. Quite a few actually,” Eddie answered hurriedly.

“Alright,” his mother said again, and then put a large piece of turkey in her mouth.

Auntie Susie piped up, “Well I hope you’re not getting involved with all of that drinking and partying hoopla. That’s what really gets ya killed.”

Sonia bristled then, and Eddie looked over at his mother worriedly. He knew anything involving death got her worked up.

“No, no, no. Just studying…”

Aunt Susie looked at him suspiciously and then shrugged, “Found anyone you like?”

He looked at her quizzically, “Not… particularly.”

Eddie knew he had to be careful with his words when his mother and aunts were around. He couldn’t really tell them that he did like someone. Not even a boy, but anyone at all.

The rest of the day went pretty smoothly, Eddie’s Mom and Aunts only asking him about classes after that, with the continual pinching of his cheeks and banters about Moochie. He was still alive.

When he came back to his dorm room, it was 12 in the afternoon, and the one thing he wanted to do was take a nap.

“Hey, where’ve you been?” Mike asked him as he made his way to his room. He was coming out of the bathroom.

“My mom’s,” Eddie groaned.

“Oh… you okay?”

“Yeah. I just need a nap…”

“Well okay,” Mike said, and then yelled after him. “Don’t sleep for too long! You’re going somewhere tonight!”

 

 

Eddie woke up once again that day to Bill jumping on his bed. He flopped back down from the air, and shot him a ‘what are you doing!?’

“G-Get up, bitch.”

Eddie rolled over in bed, still groaning, and landed onto his feet on the floor, “What?”

“Don’t y-you remember Mike tel-telling you that we-we’re go-going out ton-night?”

“Oh God, okay,” Eddie put his hands over his eyes, and tried to blink the sleep away. “Where are we going?”

“The Pavillion.”

“Alright,” Eddie said, and then began to dive through his closet, looking for some semi-fancy clothes.

He walked out of his room in dark jeans and a white sweater, noticing that Mike and Bill had been waiting for him outside.

“Okay guys, I’m coming…” He walked past them, and the two followed him out of their dorm and to The Pavilion.

Instead of Ava this time, it was a guy named Raymond who led them to their booth. Like always, the three met up with the rest of the group. Eddie saw everyone was dressed nicely, even Richie, who wore black pants and a black button up. Eddie couldn’t help admiring.

They sat down, and Bev piped up quickly, “Happy Birthday, Eddie!”

Eddie grinned broadly, and looked around at everybody, “Thanks guys. You really didn’t have to do this…”

“Of course we did,” Mike said, and gave him a genuine smile. Eddie reciprocated it, before the guy Raymond came over.

Eddie bristled when he noticed that he not so subtly looked Richie over, and made sure to glare at him as much as he could.

They ate their food, and just had general banter, when Beverly brought up giving Eddie his gifts.

“Yeah,” Ben said, and looked over at Eddie for approval. He shrugged.

“That’s fine,” Eddie said, and then watched as everyone went under their seats to grab their gifts.

From most of his friends, he got many miscellaneous things that he needed, or were part of an inside joke. Mike got Eddie a new polo outfit, while Bill handed him his new Walkman. Eddie gaped at it incredulously.

“Wow, Bill… this is awesome! I’m going to have to make some tapes for this.”

“Don’t need to,” Richie called out, and Eddie looked up as Beverly pulled out her tape. Richie pulled his from his pocket, it had red sharpie written along it. They both handed their tapes to him, and Eddie looked at them both, before reading the writing on Richie’s.

I thought you’d get a kick out of these  
Love, Richie

Eddie had to double take. Love? He looked up at Richie with a blush, the latter grinning as well, a little pink on his face, too.

Richie bent down quickly under his seat once more, and pulled out a canvas board. He handed it to Eddie over the table, and Eddie looked at it, his blush increasing even more.

It was a painting of two flowers. Both of them had bright colored petals, and he noticed that each one had a few that were rotting. Eddie heard Beverly coo at it and Richie swat at her jokingly.

Eddie grinned widely. It was perfect.


	4. I’m Sure, Richie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for anyone bothered by implications of rape.

When Sarah passed him the invitation, Eddie both sighed and screamed inside. He liked parties, they were a lot of fun, but going to The Pavilion every weekend for him was getting tiring. At least this one wouldn’t be there, and it’d be an actual party, with people and stuff.

Richie looked down at the envelope in Eddie’s hand, and Eddie rolled his eyes at the suspicion he held, before the latter received his invitation from Sarah, too.

The two boys looked up at her, Richie still glaring. When he had come back to class the next Friday, Richie had noticed the new acquired friendship Eddie and Sarah had, and now seemed to glare at her anytime the two talked to each other. The girl in front of them only smiled, though, and leaned forward to whisper in Richie’s ear.

“Calm down. I know you’re totally gay for Eddie. I invited the both of you on purpose.”

Richie raised his eyebrows at her, and she gave him a wink, a smirk at the corner of her lips. Eddie looked between the two quizzically. He was the only one who hadn’t heard what she said.

“What?” Richie asked, trying to stay discreet near his crush.

Sarah leaned over to him again, “I have my sources… but don’t act like it’s not obvious.”

Richie bristled a bit at that, while Sarah walked back to her seat, giving Eddie a friendly wave goodbye as she went.

He looked over at Richie, “What did she say to you?”

“Nothing,” Richie said, shaking his head down from the other boy. Eddie huffed, and turned back in his seat, crossing his arms. Richie sighed, feeling a wave of guilt crash over him, before he tried to change the subject.

“So do you think you’re going to go?”

Eddie turned his head to him once again, questioning, “To the party?”

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know,” he shrugged. “I’ll have to see if I have any plans.”

 

 

Eddie had no excuse not to go, and in fact would love a great excuse to get away from his homework. He didn’t tell Richie, though, as he entered the site where the party was. Why should he?

Eddie huffed as he thought about this, and shook it away before he got heated up. The party was being held at a cliff before the town’s lake. To Eddie’s disappointment, none of it was inside, so he was shivering in his jacket if he wasn’t by the bonfire. Eddie had never been to one before. To be honest, he didn’t really fit in.

Many people were chugging beer, or playing beer pong. Some girls had taken their shirts off in one corner of the site, and one guy had already jumped off the cliff and into the lake. The majority of people were dancing before the fire, which made Eddie pretty nervous since most of them were drunk.

Eddie had come to the party with Beverly and Sarah, and had been trailing them ever since he got out of the car. The two kept comforting him as they passed by the fire, telling him that this was college, and oddly enough, Eddie would always keep thinking of how his mother would kill him right then. Especially when he found Richie there.

He was dancing with the shirtless girls, a beer high up in the air. Eddie couldn’t have felt his stomach drop any lower.

He tried to play it off. Richie was a dick anyways, probably playing him. Why would he ever think he would like him? The tears began to well up in his eyes either way. Eddie always got upset when he thought too much like this.

He excused himself from Beverly and Sarah, who were quite curious of his actions, and went to go sit alone for a second in the woods.

The two girls looked around themselves, before Sarah’s eyes fell on Richie in the corner. Beverly followed her as she ran up to him, hitting the drink out of his hand, and shooing the shirtless girls away.

“What the fuck is the matter with you?”

Richie looked over at her drunkenly, surprised at her accusation, before he grinned widely. Sarah couldn’t say it wasn’t a little creepy.

“Oh, hey there. Savannah from art, right?”

She rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms over her chest, “Sure.”

Richie thought for a moment, watching as the girls found somewhere else to be, “Yeah, you’re the one who’s been all over Eddie.”

Sarah furrowed her brows and rolled her eyes once more. Of course Richie would think this. He continued, “Well guess what? I don’t care if you make out with him everyday. He’s all yours.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well now you’re all buddy-buddy with him.”

Sarah put her hands up exasperatedly, before screeching as she tried to catch Richie, who stumbled forward a bit towards her. She pushed him back onto his feet, holding him steady before continuing.

“I’m gay dude, and you are too. So why are you hanging out here like someone broke up with you?”

“Keep it down, dude,” Richie blabbered towards her. “People could kill us out here.”

Sarah shook her head, realizing Richie’s problem, “Nobody cares, Richie. Not anymore.”

Richie giggled a bit, and then looked up as he reminisced on something, “I used to get bullied in Kindergarten. This kid named Henry Bowers would always call me gay, and then beat me up. Of course, I didn’t know I was back then…”

Sarah felt guilt rise up in her stomach like vomit, “Well, if you’re worried, then why did you start all of this stuff with Eddie?”

“Shit,” Richie had seemed to sober up now, even though he wasn’t.

“...because I really fucking like him.”

 

 

Eddie felt himself cave underneath the weight of his sadness, letting out a last sob and wiping his nose with his forearm. Why was he so upset about this? Why is this so confusing? Eddie let out a groan he didn’t know he had been holding in.

He has no clue.

Crack.

Eddie whipped his head up from in between his hands, and quickly tried to wipe away the residue of his crying. He was in the middle of fixing up his hair, when Stan came in from the clearing.

The other man looked up, stopping in his tracks. His face looked like a mixture of shock and uncomfort, and Eddie guessed he didn’t do that great of a job of fixing himself up.

“What’s wrong?”

Eddie looked up at him and gave him a small smile, “Nothing.”

Stan furrowed his brows, and walked over to sit next to Eddie, turning his head to him indignantly.

“Eddie, I may not be as wild as Richie,” Eddie looked down at the ground solemnly, “but I’m not dumb.”

Eddie huffed, and then grinned a bit, “Like Richie?”

Stan smiled over at him, laughing, “Like Richie.”

Eddie chuckled before sobering up quickly. He looked down at his hands, playing with his nails.

“I like Richie.”

Stan huffed. It was knowing, but also indignant, “Of course…”

Eddie continued, “We’ve kind of been flirting an-“

“Kind of?” Stan looked over at him, with a small, but welcoming grin.

“Well… we’ve been flirting… but tonight, I saw Richie with a bunch of girls… who were,” Eddie gestured upwards with his hands, not wanting to say that they were topless.

Stan nodded as he looked forward, putting his tongue into his cheek, “That sounds like a closeted gay Richie…”

Eddie huffed out a laugh, looking over at Stan again, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Well you could trip him down onto a cinder block.”

“I’m serious.”

Stan sighed, putting a hand up to his mouth thoughtfully, “You could make him jealous?”

“How would I do that?”

Stan rolled his eyes, “Find a guy, make out with him, and then see if the dog comes running.”

“Well I’m not exactly Captain Confidence…”

”You’re in your prime time of being a young, attractive, gay male, so at least give it a fucking try,” Stan stated pointedly. Eddie thought he was about to point a finger at him.

Eddie nodded, taking a moment before deciding to change the subject, “Why are you here?”

Stan flustered a bit, and moved his hand up to rub the back of his neck, “I was looking for Bill…”

Eddie raised his eyebrows, and now finally realized what was going on between them. Oh shit.

He grinned cheekily, before saying, “Who’s also in his prime time of being a young, attractive, gay male?”

Stan gaped at him dubiously, looking up to the heavens as a blush creeped up to his cheeks. Eddie gave him a comforting smile, and Stan finally decided to cave, whispering, “Yeah.”

 

 

Eddie entered back into the clearing, leaving Stan in his quest for Bill, and walked over near the bonfire, looking for somebody who he could try his luck on.

Beverly suddenly ran up next to him, and Eddie jumped, looking over at her surprisedly.

“Hey! Are you okay?”

Eddie gave her a sweet smile, feeling better after his talk with Stan, “Yeah. What’s been going on?”

“Nothing much,” Beverly put her hands into the pockets of the light blue overalls she was wearing. “Sarah and I knocked some sense into Richie. Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine, Beverly. I’m okay.”

“Alright…” Bev said, unbelievingly, before she turned to go back to wherever she came from. “Just let me know.”

Eddie gave her a wave as she left, before turning back to the bonfire. In the crowd he noticed Raymond from The Pavilion, and hitched in a breath, gathering his courage before walking over to him.

“Hey… Raymond, right?”

The man in question, a semi-muscular guy with light blonde hair, turned to him from his place by the fire. He apparently had been smoking weed, and as he turned to him, Eddie felt a puff of smoke cloud over his face. He coughed loudly, and felt himself reach for his pocket on instinct, even though he had gotten rid of his aspirator a long time ago.

Eddie recovered quickly, before he looked up into Raymond’s dark brown eyes, “I was curious if you wanted to go… hangout?”

Raymond grinned at him, smoke blowing out of his nose profusely, “Hey! You’re that guy from the restaurant who kept glaring at me.”

Eddie felt the heat rise up in his face, and he tried to hide it, looking down a bit, “Yeah… well-“

“Yeah, who had the cute guy sitting across from you.”

Eddie shook his head, trying to ignore what he was saying so he could get to the point. He felt the music around him getting louder, and Eddie felt himself ask a little too loudly, “Do you want to get out of here?”

Raymond looked around, before giving him a shrug. Eddie sighed, finally getting through to him, and grabbed at his hand, leading him back into the woods around the clearing.

Eddie stopped by a tree, trying to make himself visible enough in case Richie were to look, and then glanced up at Raymond, who had a darker look in his eyes.

Eddie itched at his arm, not knowing how to start… whatever this was.

“So-“

He guessed Raymond had realized this, too, when he suddenly leaned down to press his lips against Eddie’s firmly. Eddie gasped as they collided, and closed his eyes as he pushed his hands into his hair. If he was going to make Richie jealous, he might as well put on a show.

Raymond licked at his lips, pushing his hands under Eddie’s shirt. He gasped at the frigid skin against his own, kind of enjoying the way he was firmly being held.

As they continued, Eddie felt Raymond press him up against the tree. Butterflies danced in his chest, not of excitement, but of anxiety now as he felt his breathing become more rapid.

Raymond pushed his body closer into him, and Eddie felt himself gasping as his anxiety came to a summit. He felt a rock press onto his diaphragm, and tears sting the sides of his eyes. Raymond ground against his leg slowly.

“Stop.”

Raymond looked down at him, his breath mingling with Eddie’s. Eddie looked back at him, and Raymond nodded a bit, “Sorry.”

Raymond pressed into him further, getting a grip on the tree to pull away. Eddie guessed it was the anxiety, not realizing he was listening to him, when he screamed.

Raymond jumped, quickly placing a hand over his mouth, “Hey! I’m getting off! Calm down-“

It was a mess. Eddie began to struggle out of embarrassment, Raymond began to pin him further down onto the tree out of fear, and by the time a crowd had formed in front of them, it looked like something that nobody would want to find.

And then Richie arrived, drunk and probably high. He looked at the image before him, and Eddie wasn’t sure if he had turned completely sober, as he watched a fire red rage emerge into Richie’s eyes. He dropped the drink he had been holding, and lunged at Raymond, clocking him right in the nose.

Raymond cried out, stumbling back into the tree behind him. Eddie gasped for air as he fell off of him, and quickly looked up, seeing Richie punch him one more time. Eddie got up and ran forward.

“Richie, stop!”

He didn’t, his knuckles cracked into Raymond’s jaw, and Eddie wrapped his arms around his neck, throwing him back onto the ground with him. Richie gasped, and Eddie let go quickly, getting up onto his knees to lean over Richie’s face.

They made eye contact, and Eddie watched as Richie’s eyes softened considerably. He held his face in between his hands, and whispered down at him, “It’s okay. Nothing happened…”

Richie closed his eyes, letting out a sigh that was regretful and relieved at the same time. Eddie closed his too, looking up, trying to breathe deeply with the butterflies still in his stomach.

After a moment, he looked over at Raymond, who was leaning against the tree watching them. His face was bloody and a bit crooked, and Eddie frowned at him guiltily, “I’m sorry.”

Raymond frowned, attempting to get up from against the tree, and walked away without saying a word. The people before them watched him, and began to disperse at the decline in action.

Beverly ran over to the two on the ground, crouching down and grabbing at Eddie’s face.

“Eddie, are you okay!?”

Eddie let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, “Yeah… I’m fine. It was all a misunderstanding.”

Beverly sighed, and gazed down at Richie still on the ground, “You need to get some rest.”

Richie nodded, and tried to look away from her, embarrassed.

She huffed, and turned to the group behind her. It was Ben, Sarah, and Mike. “Come on guys. Let’s leave them alone for a minute.”

The four walked out of the woods and back into the clearing, leaving the two boys still on the ground. Eddie grabbed for Richie’s hand, and lifted the two of them up onto their feet.

They looked at each other, both covered in dirt, and shivering in the cold. The two kept their hands together, and Richie looked down at them before whispering, “I’m sorry.”

Eddie sighed, “I’m sorry, too.”

Richie looked up at him, questioning, “For what?”

Eddie looked down to his feet, continuing, “For everything? I just… I really like you Richie, and I just don’t know what I’m doing anymore…”

Richie smiled a bit, and reached his other hand up to hold Eddie’s cheek. Eddie sighed, feeling himself relax under Richie’s grip. Everything came crashing down on him, and Eddie realized just how tired he was now. Richie leaned forward, and Eddie felt his breath hitch at how close they were. He closed his eyes, leaning forwards as well, feeling himself shaking with anticipation. 

He opened his eyes, realizing the other boy had stopped, and was now looking at him with an odd expression. Eddie furrowed his brows, and opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, when it happened.

They both gasped, and Eddie felt his world crumble as Richie finally vomited all over his shirt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy holidays: https://abbieeyyee.deviantart.com/art/An-A-Muse-Me-Christmas-723376457


	5. Or... Just Bury Me?

Eddie woke up that morning to the lovely sound of Richie puking in his toilet. After the party yesterday, Eddie had taken Richie back to his dorm, dreadfully clad in the latter’s vomit. They had gone inside, Bill and Mike still at the party, and Eddie led Richie into the bathroom, closing the door behind the other man to let him change into a pair of Bill’s clothes. He wouldn’t tell.

Eddie sat by the door as Richie cleaned himself up, letting out an occasional “Rich?” to make sure nothing had happened in his drunken state. Every time Eddie asked this, Richie would always reply, saying, “I’m okay, Eds.”

After a few minutes, Eddie had decided to create a makeshift bed for the other man, and then went into the bathroom once Richie had come out.

Eddie looked into the mirror, and silently sighed to himself, pressing his forehead against the glass exasperatedly. He was pretty sure tonight had been the worst day of his life, and couldn’t stop his suppressing feelings of disappointment, embarrassment, bewilderment, and disgust.

He went into the shower, rubbing his skin until he felt raw, and then proceeded to find anything else he could clean on himself. Eddie threw away his clothes into the garbage bin, almost feeling like he wanted to throw that away, too, before he thought better of it. He was in college. He could barely afford another trash can. Bill would kill him if he did that anyways.

He came out of the bathroom after an hour, and saw that Richie was already asleep.

Eddie stared at him warily, feeling an unknown emotion rise up into his chest. He tried to ignore it as he got into his own bed, shutting the light off on his side table, and letting himself finally cry for the last time that day.

If his life wasn’t any worse, now Richie was puking again, and Eddie tried his hardest not to barge in there and burn his entire fucking toilet.

He heard a flush, and then listened as Richie turned the sink on, assumably splashing water onto his face, and hopefully brushing his goddamn teeth.

Eddie moved the blanket from over his legs, and got out of bed, walking into the kitchen. He noticed that nobody seemed to be awake yet.

If Mike and Bill did come home that night.

Eddie opened up the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice. He closed the door, grabbing a cup and pouring Richie out a glass. He was a dick last night, but a hangover was a hangover.

Richie came out into the kitchen after a few minutes. He looked like shit, his hair a mess and his eyes rather bloodshot, and was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a gray henley: both Bill’s. Eddie turned to him when he came in through the doorway, his bedroom was right alongside the kitchen, and Richie jumped a bit. He groaned, holding his forehead with one hand.

“Hurts like a bitch, doesn’t it?”

Richie took a moment, and then padded up to one of the island bar stools, sitting down and holding his head between his hands. Eddie watched him, not knowing how he felt. He couldn’t say that Richie didn’t deserve it, but still sympathized for him either way.

Eddie sighed, and passed over the orange juice. Richie looked up at him, his magnified eyes filled with surprise, before he took the glass into his hands.

“Thanks.”

“Mhm,” Eddie hummed as a response, grabbing a package of soup from the cupboard and starting a pot of water. Richie watched him doubtfully, taking a sip of his drink. After a moment, he finally spoke up again.

“What are you doing?”

Eddie didn’t look up as he answered, continuing with his efforts, “Making soup?”

Richie scoffed a bit, “You do realize it’s 9:30 in the morning, right?”

Eddie turned to look at him then, “You do realize that I don’t have to help you, right?”

Richie didn’t say anything after that, swallowing the lump in his throat as he began to remember what he could of last night. As if he read his mind, Eddie suddenly asked, “So, do you remember anything from last night?”

Richie thought about it for a second. He remembered feeling upset, remembered Sarah yelling in his face, and then remembered seeing something with Eddie, a torrid rage in the pit of his stomach.

“What happened?”

Eddie stopped for a moment, and then looked over at Richie again, sighing, “Well I guess it’s good you don’t remember…”

Eddie began to walk away to go clean up the bathroom again, when Richie grabbed at his wrist quickly, pulling him towards him.

“What happened, Eddie?”

Eddie pulled his wrist out of Richie’s grip, and continued to walk to his bedroom, “Like I said, I guess it’s good you don’t remember.” He closed the bedroom door behind him.

Richie watched after him, swallowing thickly. He grabbed at his orange juice and took a sip, trying to remember as best as he could. He then noticed his hands, or more importantly his knuckles. They were bruised, and Richie remembered now having punched somebody. Obviously more than once considering the state of them.

It was a guy. The guy Eddie had been with. He now remembered vividly seeing Eddie pressed up against a tree under that guy’s weight, looking flushed and horrified. Richie remembered his admittance to liking Eddie, and Sarah’s blatant coming out to him. He’d have to get back to that later.

But most importantly, he now remembered himself barfing all over the boy that he had hurt, after a night of such abhorrence.

Richie didn’t blame Eddie for hating him.

He got up from his place on the stool, ignoring his headache now as he went into the bedroom. He looked around, finding Eddie nowhere, before he realized that the bathroom door was shut.

He knocked on it lightly, gritting his teeth at the pain the noise put into his head.

“Eddie?”

There was no answer. Richie continued anyways.

“Eds, I’m sorry. Everything I did last night was really shitty of me, and I know I can’t say anything that will make you want to forgive me, but I really mean it. I can’t imagine how crappy last night must’ve been for you.”

Still no answer. Richie sighed, he knew he wasn’t good at this stuff, and decided to make his way back into the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Eddie finally came back, not saying anything but continuing with Richie’s soup. The latter thanked him when Eddie finally handed him his bowl. He then leaned against the counter across from Richie.

The two sat there, Richie sipping at his soup, when Eddie finally spoke again, “You were a real dick last night.”

Richie looked up at him, “Yeah, I know.”

“I just don’t understand,” Eddie put his hands up around his head exasperatedly. “You flirt so much with me in class and at The Pavilion, but when we finally go to a fucking party, you decide to hangout with a bunch of… topless girls.”

Richie snorted, just remembering about this part now, “Not everything is like a movie, Eds.”

“It’s still misleading.”

Richie sighed, pushing his soup away and cupping his hands underneath his chest, “Listen… we obviously know that I like you by now, so why don’t we just cut the bullshit?”

“Yeah, why don’t we?” Eddie said sarcastically, crossing his arms and glaring down at Richie.

Richie got up, and crossed around the island to stand in front of Eddie. Eddie felt his skin prickle at their proximity, heat rising in his cheeks. Richie put a hand onto the counter next to Eddie, and leaned forward, noticing this.

“I still think it’s cute when you blush so much,” Richie whispered at his ear, grazing the shell with his nose and breathing against his neck hotly.

Eddie tried not to shiver, going more towards his defensive side, “I’m still looking for that third apology.”

“I’m sorry,” Richie said breathily, almost mocking a moan, and Eddie felt his breath hitch considerably.

He turned his head to look at Richie. His eyes were dark with interest, and Eddie felt himself leaning in, before a loud noise shot him out of his reverie.

They broke apart quickly, Richie finding a way to look casual as he leaned against the island that was behind him.

Suddenly, Bill walked into the room, rubbing his eyes and looking over at them plainly. Richie gave him a half-hearted wave, and Bill pushed through the two of them to get to the coffee.

As he poured it, he glanced over at Richie behind his shoulder, “I see you ha-had some good chucks this morn-morning, Rich.”

Eddie looked over at him wickedly, and watched the blush grow over Richie’s face. He flustered before replying with a fake ‘haha Bill.’

Bill turned back to them, grinning, when all of a sudden, Stan came around the corner. It was where Bill had come from. He was in a T-shirt and boxers, and when he spotted the two, he groaned loudly.

Richie looked between Stan and Bill incredulously, “Wait a minute… did you two…?” He held up a finger, pointing at both of them.

Stan walked over to one of the stools, sitting down, and then looked up at Richie disgustedly, “God, no. I’m not a slut, Richie.”

Richie grinned widely, “You sure about that?”

Stan put a hand to his forehead, making sure to give him the finger along with it. Richie chuckled, looking back at Eddie, but stopped when he saw that the other boy was looking at the ground, his brows furrowed.

Richie decided to change the subject, “So, what are we doing today?”

“Dunno,” Bill said, taking a sip of his coffee.

“Well, we have to do something!” Richie gesticulated wildly. “We can’t waste a perfectly good Saturday doing nothing!”

“I don’t really feel like going out…” Eddie said, and the others nodded in agreement.

“We cou-could invite everyone over here to hango-out?” Bill said thoughtfully.

Richie grinned widely, “Sounds like a plan then.”

 

 

Eddie felt a lot better having everyone over to just hangout, and by 12:30, they were all giggling on the floor as they played a game of Never Have I Ever.

“...had a guilty pleasure,” Richie said with a malice grin, and noticed how Eddie’s hand had gone up.

“Really, Eds?” Richie turned to him incredulously. “Give me the dirty details! Whatcha got?”

Eddie shrugged, “It’s nothing crazy. I just like watching those videos where babies eat lemons for the first time.”

Richie scoffed at this, “Oh, come on! I know you have a real guilty pleasure deep down there, Eds,” Richie gave him a wink. “Don’t worry. I’ll find it out someday.”

Eddie flustered immediately, and pulled at the collar of his shirt, frustrated.

“Well, then how about you Richie?”

Richie put his arms behind his head, leaning back, “Well it’s your mom, of course.”

Eddie glared at him disgustedly when he decided to continue, “You know, she likes it real hard. I’m surprised Eddie doesn’t have a brother yet!”

Sarah gagged from across the room, and everyone heard Stan groan like he always did anytime Richie spoke. He seemed satisfied with his joke, though.

“You know,” Eddie spoke out in defense. “You’re not supposed to do one that you’ve done, too, Richie. That’s how you lose.”

Richie looked over at Eddie to his right, and bit his cheek, nonplussed.

“Oh, I’ve done everything, Eds,” Richie said giving him another wink, and Eddie felt his blush grow increasingly more pigmented.

“Yeah, like puke on your future lover?” Beverly said with a smirk in Eddie’s defense, but this just made him more flustered, his face becoming a tomato red.

Richie looked over to his left, where Ben sat in their little circle, and pushed him lightly, “Alright, Haystack. It’s your turn.”

“Okay…” Ben said thoughtfully. “Never have I ever… kissed someone.”

Everyone except Ben and Eddie raised their hands. Richie looked over at Eddie incredulously, while Bev looked at Ben the same way.

“You’re telling me you’ve never kissed someone?” Richie asked Ben disbelievingly. “Never played spin the bottle, or anything like that?”

Ben shook his head innocently enough, “Never.”

Richie put his hands together in a prayer, closing his eyes and looking up to the heavens, “Then beloved in thy Lord, when the Saviour sent out his Apostles, he said unto them, “Go ye, and teach all college boys the untimely fashion of smacking their lips against another’s, in sometimes sweet or erotic ways-“

Ben’s blush grew as Richie recited this, and Bill cut him off swiftly, saying, “Go-Godamn it, Richie. The be-best part of you ran down your father’s le-leg!”

Richie opened his eyes slowly at that, and grinned over at Bill cheekily, “So, are we playing or not?”

Ben shook his hands out in front of himself hastily, “No, no, no. I’ll live…”

“What? Scared you’re gonna get me?”

“Yes,” Stan huffed over at him, and the rest of the room began to laugh.

Richie put his hands back down into his lap, giving Ben a pout, and side eyeing Eddie a bit, “Party pooper.”

 

 

After a few more rounds of their game, the gang finally separated so that some could get to their afternoon classes, and so that some could hangout individually. Eddie decided to go get some lunch with Stan, considering the latter had been pretty wound up all day.

They compromised on eating at the diner, which was a few miles off of campus. Eddie liked it, though. It was a great place to get away from their peers, while also going to a place that was quiet and exciting on its own.

Stan drove the whole way there, the two not talking until they went inside and got a booth.

“So…” Stan said, taking a sip of his vanilla milkshake. “What exactly happened last night? Everyone keeps mentioning things, but I haven’t heard the whole story.”

Eddie huffed and leaned back in his seat, drumming his fingers against the patterns of their table. Before he could speak, their waitress came over quickly to hand Eddie his Shirley Temple. He thanked her sweetly, taking a sip of it, and then continued.

“Stan, it was a shit show…” He sighed, drumming his fingers again. “So, I got that guy Raymond, from The Pavilion, to make-out with me right?”

Stan nodded, his brows furrowed, waiting for the punchline.

Eddie then slapped his hands down onto the table dramatically, the people in the booths next to them looking on warily, “I have a fucking asthma attack. Or panic attack. Agh! Who fucking knows!?” Eddie put a hand to his forehead exasperatedly.

“So I tell him to stop, and he says okay. I don’t know if it was my anxiety, but I ended up screaming when he pressed down onto me further so he could get up. And then he proceeded to cover my mouth, while I was trying to just get out from under him. Yeah, and then a crowd ended up forming, including Richie, who saw this, and then proceeded to beat Raymond up because it looked like he was… Anyways, I break up the fight, because nobody else was doing anything. To sum the rest up, Richie and I almost kissed, and then he puked all over my fucking shirt. Which I liked by the way!”

Eddie was all worked up after his rant, and Stan put a hand onto his forearm, “Hey, calm down. First of all, I’m sorry. This is my fault, and second, it’s not the end of the world.”

Stan took a sip of his milkshake again as Eddie came down, sighing and putting his head onto the table.

“I mean, Richie still obviously likes you, so that’s a plus.”

“I know!” Eddie said, pushing his hands through his hair. “He told me this morning, all like ‘so why don’t we just cut the bullshit?’” Eddie made a half-hearted impression of Richie’s voice, and Stan chuckled at it amusedly.

“He’s the one who’s got to cut the bullshit!”

Stan looked at Eddie, “Well I think you both do.”

“What am I doing!?” Eddie asked incredulously. Stan scoffed and tilted his head down at the other boy.

“Eddie, you’re not doing anything.”

“Exactly,” Eddie crossed his arms over his chest grumpily.

“No,” Stan furrowed his brows at him. “I’m saying, the problem is that you’re not doing anything. It sounds like you’re totally open to being with Richie at this point, but you’re not making any move at all.”

Eddie shook his head, mulling it over, before he decided to change the subject, “Where were you last night?”

Stan put his bottom lip into his mouth, “I was with Bill.”

“So are you two dating now, or what?”

“I don’t know,” Stan said, grabbing one of the salt shakers and looking at it intensely. “I hope so.”

“Well, then do something about it,” Eddie said, looking at Stan angrily, before their waitress came back again to deliver their orders.

Stan looked over at Eddie with a smirk, huffing out a laugh.

 

 

After they paid their bill, Stan and Eddie both decided they would pick Ben, Bill, and Mike up from class.

Stan drove into a parking spot before the main school building, and the two of them hopped out to wait for them by their classroom door. As they turned the corner, though, the both of them saw something they didn’t really expect to see that day.

Down the hall were two double doors, and outside those doors were two girls. It was Beverly and Sarah, and they were making out.

Eddie stared at the sight before him in shock, and watched as Stan ran over to them angrily. Eddie felt his stomach jolt, and he hurried after him, unsure of what he was going to do.

Stan opened up the double doors loudly, and the two girls jolted away from each other surprisedly. The three of them looked over at Stan apprehensively, who opened his mouth widely before saying, “Can you stop that?”

Eddie looked at Stan a little bewildered, before he continued.

“You’re in public.”

The three of them wilted, relaxing at Stan’s over-dramatic reaction, before Beverly hopped in through the open door Stan held for them.

“Sorry, Stan. I can’t help myself.”

He snorted a bit at her, letting Sarah in before closing both doors behind her, “Of course you can’t…”

Suddenly, the school bell rang loudly through the halls, and before the four of them knew it, doors were opening up like clockwork.

Eddie caught sight of Bill, Mike, and Ben coming out of their English class together, and waved over at them, shouting out a ‘Hey!’

The three caught up with them, and Stan decided it best they went out of the two double doors Bev and Sarah had been on the other side of.

They piled into Stan’s car, and once they got driving, Eddie looked over at the two girls in the backseat.

“So… are you two, like, dating now?”

Sarah grinned at Eddie enthusiastically, “Have been.”

Eddie raised his eyebrows at her incredulously, while Ben, Mike, and Bill all looked at each other, confused.

“Wait… what’s going on?” Mike asked out.

Beverly looked back at him in her chair. Ben, Bill, and Mike all sat in the back, while her and Sarah were situated in the two middle seats. She smiled at the three of them graciously.

“Me and Sarah are dating.”

Mike gave the two a broad grin. Bill looked at Beverly with a genuine smile, giving her a small fist bump. The two had become pretty close, so they tended to do that on occasion. Ben only nodded, letting out an ‘ah, that makes sense now.’

Beverly beamed at him, “Don’t worry, I’m not going to steal your partner away from you.”

Bill was looking out the window thoughtfully, when he spoke up again, “I-If we’re doing con-confessions right n-n-now, then can I s-s-say something?”

Eddie looked over at Bill from his spot in the passenger’s seat, “Go ahead, Big Bill.”

Bill looked down at his hands before taking a deep breath, “Me and St-Stan are dating, too.”

“We are?” Stan asked Bill, looking at him through the rear view mirror.

Bill flustered quickly, a blush growing on his cheeks, “Un-Unless you d-don’t want tuh-to…”

Stan furrowed his brows at him, “What? Of course I do!”

Eddie felt his cheeks begin to burn as he grinned at the two of them. Bill’s blush grew even more, but a smile was now planted on his face, too. Beverly cheered out inside the car, and everybody began to chat excitedly about each other and about what was to come. Eddie giggled and looked over to Stan with a smirk.

“If only I had a confetti cannon.”

 

 

Eddie was doing his homework at 10:00 in the afternoon, when he got a text from Richie. He jumped at the chime, in the middle of working on an essay he had to do for history, and looked over at his phone, picking it up gingerly.

Richie: R u up?

Eddie rolled his eyes. He knew it was Saturday, but he really needed to get this essay done. Or wanted to just get it over with.

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): No.

Eddie watched as a thought bubble popped up from Richie’s side. He was still texting him. Eddie groaned that he couldn’t take the hint, but guessed he could use a break from writing anyways.

Richie: What r u up to?

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Homework.

Richie: ew.  
Richie: Can I come over?

Eddie tried to ignore the butterflies he felt in his stomach then.

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Why?

Richie: I’m bored

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Do your homework

Richie: God. I don’t think u want me to puke again today now do u??

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Funny

Eddie didn’t know how many times he could roll his eyes or blush with this guy.

Richie: Sorry ily

Eddie bit his lip, closing his eyes for a second. He knew Richie didn’t love him, but he couldn’t help feeling a blossom explode in his chest every time he told him that. It was only on two occasions, but Eddie couldn’t keep from falling a little further whenever he said it.

Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Come over if you want.  
Eddie Spaghetti (merman emoji): Just don’t bother me while I finish this.

Eddie didn’t get a reply after he said this, and he assumed that Richie was on his way. Or wasn’t. Eddie didn’t know why he felt nervous. He told Richie he could come over if he wanted to, and that he didn’t want him to bother him anyways.

Eddie tried to ignore it, and continued to work on his essay, finishing his rough draft and deciding that was it for tonight.

Richie: Here

Eddie got up from his seat and went to go sit at one of the kitchen stools by the door. Suddenly, a quiet knock came, and Eddie opened it up to find a grinning Richie Tozier. He was clad in an orange raglan, and his hair seemed messier than usual.

“Hey.”

“Hey,” Eddie said, giving him a smile.

He let Richie in, who followed him into his bedroom. Eddie began to clean up the stuff on his desk, while Richie went to sit on his bed, his legs crossed.

“I thought you were doing your homework?” Richie asked quizzically, furrowing his brows.

Eddie put his bag on the floor underneath his desk, and turned to the other boy, “I was.”

“Done?”

Eddie nodded his head, putting his tongue into his cheek. He sat down in his desk chair across from Richie, backwards, with his arms intertwined over the top. Richie looked at him for a moment, before sighing and saying,

“Listen, I’m really sorry again for last night…”

Eddie closed his eyes, wishing Richie would just let it go, “Do we have to talk about this, again?”

“Yes,” Richie said, and Eddie saw the sincerity in his eyes. “I got jealous when you started hanging out with Sarah and such, and then in class she told me that me liking you was obvious, so I guess I got scared. I mean, I know it’s dangerous in public sometimes, not really anymore, but I had talked to my dad on the phone the night before, and he can be really judgy sometimes. Most of the time he tries to shoo me away, but anytime he feels he should give me any attention, it’s never for positive reasons. I mean, I’m from Derry, too, so you’ve got to know how homophobic it can be. Everybody’s like everybody in that town.”

Eddie looked at Richie guiltily as he continued, feeling like he should be the one apologizing. He went on.

“And like the dumbass I always am, I got drunk and hung out with those girls to try and make you jealous. Or make you feel how I felt seeing you and Sarah together…”

Eddie got up from his seat and went to sit next to Richie on the bed. He put a hand over his arm, finally speaking up, “It’s okay, Richie. Ironically, I tried to do the same thing to you that night. I was upset seeing you with those girls… and so I tried to makeout with that guy so I could make you jealous. We both know how that turned out.”

Richie turned to face him, “But that’s my fault, too. I made you do that, and then proceeded to embarass you by beating the guy up. I… just didn’t want to see anybody ever hurt you, Eds, and… I couldn’t control myself.”

He took a deep breath, “And then you let me stay last night. Took care of me this morning… and you barely complained.”

“I complained,” Eddie said, furrowing his brows.

“Well… I wouldn’t have put it past you to kick me to the curb, spit on me, and then proceed to run me over with Stan’s car.”

They both chuckled, and Eddie thought for a moment.

“Well… If that hadn’t have happened, we wouldn’t be here…”

Richie looked down at Eddie, questioning, “What’s here?”

Eddie didn’t know what he was feeling right now. Everything felt tight in his chest, like he couldn’t breathe. The thing, though, was that he could. He felt like he was being given such an abundance of air, that it was too much. Way better than what his asthma could have ever given him.

He could hear his mother screeching through his mind, telling him ‘no,’ telling him, ‘don’t leave me.’ His aunts ranted through his ears. About the blood. The death. The gore.

Eddie ignored it all, taking the deepest breath he ever could, and gave Richie a small smile, “This.”

Before either boy could say anything, Eddie leaned up towards Richie and thrust their lips together tightly.

Richie let out a noise of surprise before he pressed back with the same fervor, pushing his hand up to hold Eddie’s chin.

Eddie smiled into the kiss, and pushed his fingers through Richie’s hair, holding onto the curls like he could disappear at any moment.

He had no clue what was happening right now, but he can’t seem to regret it at all.

He can breathe. He can hear. He can feel. He doesn’t care what anybody else says right now, because this feels good.

He’s with Richie.

And that’s all he cares about.


	6. Aftermath

Eddie let out a sigh as he pulled back, watching as their lips parted slowly. Before he thought again, he said fuck it and leaned back in, opening his mouth up to Richie and holding tightly onto his fitted raglan. Richie let out a noise of approval as this happened, and after a few minutes of them holding onto each other, they finally pulled away once more.

Eddie opened his eyes to look up into Richie’s. They were soft yet gleeful, and he noticed now the smile he held with that expression. Being Richie, he opened his mouth up to start talking.

“I like here.”

Eddie couldn’t help smiling, and laid back onto his bed, Richie curling up next to him. He leaned over Eddie’s body to start kissing below his ear, and Eddie swatted at him.

“Stop, that tickles!”

Richie only grinned, and moved his mouth up Eddie’s jaw, kissing with a fervor that made Eddie’s heart lurch enthusiastically.

As Richie moved up to where Eddie’s lips were, he turned his head, looking like he was about to kiss them, before he leaned further to get to the other side of his jaw.

“I thought you said you were going to stop being a dick?” Eddie asked exasperatedly.

Richie sucked at his pulse point, only leaning back a bit to reply.

“Shut up.”

He couldn’t stay quiet for long, and got up over Eddie to pull him into his lap. Eddie leaned against him, Richie running his fingers through his hair.

“Took you long enough.”

Eddie slapped his hand, “Ditto, asshole.”

Richie chuckled, and wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist, putting his head onto his shoulder, “I didn’t know they had assholes, but if that’s what you’re into…”

Eddie groaned, and wriggled his way out of Richie’s grip, going into the kitchen to clean some things up. Richie only followed, and placed himself onto a stool at the kitchen island, bringing his arms up to watch him. His eyes never strayed off of Eddie’s movements, and Eddie couldn’t help the blush rising into his cheeks. He grinned as he put some dishes away.

“So…” Richie said from the island, looking at Eddie with his head propped up against the table. “Are we dating now…?”

“You know, you don’t have to kiss to start dating, Richie.”

Richie sighed, “Yeah, but… I want to, Eds.”

“Are you asking me out?” Eddie looked over at him with a cheeky grin as he placed some cups back into the cupboard.

Richie grinned over at him, shaking his head, “And I thought the kiss was enough. You’re a piece of work, Kaspbrak.”

Eddie didn’t look at him this time when he deadpanned, “But you still want me to be your piece of work.”

“Bingo.”

Eddie’s grin grew even wider, and he sizzled from the butterflies in his stomach. He got up to go over to the island, leaning against it and looking up at Richie.

“Okay then… why do you want to date me?”

Richie furrowed his brows, huffing dramatically, “Is that even a question anymore?”

Eddie smiled up at him, “Shoot.”

Richie sighed, shifting his arms, “Well… you’re beautiful, smart, adorable, and sassy, but if I had to use one word... I’d go with perfect.”

Eddie felt like a pile of jello, and he flustered a bit at Richie’s words, “I-I’m not perfect.”

“You are to me.”

“Shut up, Richie.”

Richie only smiled, and leaned forward to peck Eddie’s lips gently.

Eddie turned back around, continuing in his adventure to put the rest of the dishes away.

 

 

“So what’s up with you?” Eddie asked as he walked through the parking lot with Beverly, shimmying between a black Honda and white Chevy. He squeezed through, and looked over at her with furrowed brows.

Beverly shrugged, “Nothing much… I mean, it’s a Thursday.” She chuckled.

“Yeah…” Eddie nodded. “How about with Sarah?”

“Good,” Beverly looked around, and shrugged her backpack higher onto her shoulder. “How about you? Richie?”

Eddie hesitated for a second, a little more flustered than usual. Did Richie tell her about what happened? “...Good.”

“What was that?” Beverly grinned over at him. He guessed not, and let out a silent sigh in his head.

Eddie shook it, “Nothing. We hung out, but I haven’t seen him since.”

“Ahhh you guys hung out! Eddie misses him!” Beverly cooed, and Eddie began to walk faster, feeling a blush rise. He looked around, and then suddenly stopped in his tracks as he made eye contact with somebody.

Across from Eddie in the parking lot stood Raymond, who was about to climb into a beat up Toyota. His dark brown eyes suddenly glared back at him, and Eddie cringed a bit at the hostility. A faint voice rang out from inside the car, and Raymond looked back into it, his features softening. Eddie couldn’t quite make out what it was saying, before a head popped out from inside. It was a guy with soft olive skin, the dark curls on his head bouncing around as he moved.

Eddie peered over at him, and watched as the guy noticed his presence as well, glaring with a sharp malice. Eddie couldn’t tell himself to look away, and quickly grimaced when the guy from the car even dared to pull his hand out from inside, and point two fingers from his eyes to Eddie’s.

Eddie gulped, before Raymond quickly hopped into the car, speeding off and leaving a flustered Eddie in its wake. Beverly walked up to his side with a raised eyebrow, “What was that about?”

“I have some idea,” Eddie shivered in his place. Beverly looked at him with concerned eyes. “It’s nothing good, that’s for sure.”

“You and Richie?” She asked worriedly.

“Yeah…”

 

 

Mrs. Brewer clapped her hands together loudly, causing Eddie’s head to whip up and look over at her. She was standing next to Richie’s desk, looking at Richie’s drawing with a big smile on her face. Richie was smiling, too, and Eddie couldn’t help doing the same, even though none of them could see him.

“This is wonderful, Richie,” Mrs. Brewer said to him excitedly. “I really like this lighter part you’ve incorporated into it. It creates a great contrast.”

Richie grinned toothily before the teacher walked away, going over to Ben to talk about his piece.

Eddie leaned over his desk to look at Richie’s paper. Richie did add a section in the middle that was a lot lighter than some of the other parts of the drawing. It made Eddie feel like shit looking at it. It was very good.

“So what’s behind that?” Eddie looked up towards Richie, pointing at the part curiously.

“Well, part of the objective was to incorporate how our partners will affect our lives…” Richie didn’t look up at Eddie as he said this, and Eddie felt flustered again for the millionth time that week.

He began to blush, and thought for a moment. Eddie finally had an idea about how Richie would affect his life. Still annoy him? Yes, but something else, too.

The bell rang, and Eddie decided not to dwell on it. He grabbed at his materials, and piled them into his bag, pulling the straps over his arms, and meeting up with Richie. He was waiting by the door, and the two walked out, side by side.

As they exited, other classes began to open up, a sea of people crowding around the two of them.

They were making their way down the hallway when Eddie suddenly felt a hand grip his wrist, and pull him into the janitor’s closet to his right.

The door closed with a thud, and Eddie looked up at Richie quizzically, before the latter pressed his lips against his firmly. Eddie only made a noise, and didn’t complain about the gesture as he deepened their kiss. Richie grabbed his hips, and moved forwards to press Eddie against the wall. Eddie groaned until he felt a fearful leap in his stomach. He pulled his mouth away quickly, and pressed his forehead against Richie’s, both of them breathing heavily.

“Sorry.”

Richie only shook his head, and Eddie sighed before opening his eyes and making eye contact with him.

“Are we going to tell them?”

“Our friends?” Richie asked, furrowing his brows. Eddie nodded, their foreheads still stuck to each other.

“I don’t know…” Richie thought for a moment, ”It’s kind of fun to play the forbidden lovers.” He grinned brazenly, leaning back in to kiss Eddie, who only sighed and kissed him back with the same fervor.

 

 

After their little closet adventure, and being caught by the janitor, Eddie and Richie ran out of the arts building as fast as they could, only stopping when they finally made their way into the middle of the parking lot.

Eddie bent down and put his hands onto his knees, panting deeply. He thought for a moment that it would turn into something else, until he convinced his mind otherwise. At this point in his life, to get away from the fake illnesses that always overbore in his mind, Eddie found that the best tactic was to take over his own thoughts. If he could convince his mind that he was okay, then he’d be okay. Tricky thing.

Richie sighed loudly, letting out a ‘whoo!’ as he leaned back on his haunches to stretch. Eddie looked up at him with a grin, “Do you think he’s going to turn us in?”

“Nah,” Richie said, looking around before pulling his phone out of his pocket. “I doubt he gives too much of a crap.”

“Yeah…” Eddie sighed, pulling himself back up from his crouched position. He looked over at Richie on his phone, furrowing his brows. “What are you doing?”

Richie looked up, only just for a second, “Well, do you want to walk back to my dorm?”

“We’re going to your dorm?”

Richie looked up again, finally putting his phone away back into his pocket. A grin grew along his face, adorable yet shit-eating, “We could stop what we were doing back in that closet? Maybe go back inside and hangout with the janitor. He can pretend he’s not imagining us boning.”

Eddie swatted at him, the infamous blush flourishing along his cheeks, “Richie, we’re not fucking boning!”

“But we’re fucking, right?” Richie cackled loudly up towards the sky.

“No!”

Richie stopped laughing after a few seconds, before finally calming down, “I called my roommate to come pick us up. You can do your homework or whatever.”

Eddie nodded, reminded of his backpack and hiking it up a bit. He guessed Richie remembered his, too, because he began to sling it down from over his shoulder. Before Eddie could say anything, Richie leaned against the car behind him and threw the backpack onto its hood. Then, he began to unzip it and pulled out his homework, taking out a pencil and putting it in between his teeth.

Eddie watched this curiously before deciding to do the same. He put his backpack down and decided to sit on the pavement, because he was civil. Before he could place his butt onto the ground, though, Richie quickly pulled the flannel he had on off of his shoulders, and tossed it over at Eddie, not looking up from his homework.

Eddie caught it in-between his hands, pushing the soft cloth through his fingers. He put it underneath himself and sat down, looking up at Richie, “You’re such a sap.”

Richie only hummed in response, taking the pencil out of his mouth and placing the tip down onto paper.

They stayed like that for a while, before a Sedan pulled up next to them and honked its horn. The guy behind the wheel pulled down his front window, popping his head out, “Hey guys! Need a ride?”

Eddie looked up at him, startled from the honk, and saw that the guy had light brown hair with blue eyes. Eddie looked back towards Richie, who had spotted him also, and hoped to God that this was his roommate. He sighed a bit in relief when Richie only grinned, and packed up the stuff he had splayed all over the stranger’s car that he was leaned up against. Eddie did the same, and the two of them got inside the car, Richie in the passenger’s seat while Eddie took the back.

Richie’s apparent roommate looked back at Eddie with a grin, “Hi. I’m CJ.”

Eddie gave him a weak smile, before CJ continued, “So you’re the guy Richie has never shut the fuck up about. Took you guys long enough. He missed you all week, by the way. It was like watching a Shakespeare play all over again-.”

Richie pummeled at him quickly, and CJ only chuckled, using his arms to defend himself weakly. CJ kept going as he began to drive them out of the parking lot, “Well, I’m Richie’s roommate! There’s one more of us which I’m assuming is the same for you, but he’s actually leaving soon, so we’re getting a new guy.”

Richie looked over at CJ incredulously, “Wait, I didn’t know about this.”

“I guess Dale finally wanted to uptake that career in music his parents always flogged him about.”

Eddie watched as the campus buildings began to fly past his window.

“So what are you here for, Eddie?” CJ asked him, and Eddie noticed now that he had been gnawing on a stick of gum.

Eddie shrugged, “Medicine. I’m not entirely stuck with something, just trying to get out of the house and away from my mother.”

Richie looked over at Eddie curiously, “Overbearing?”

“In more ways than one.”

Richie looked like he was contemplating this, before CJ started up again, “Why don’t you tell Eddie about your major, Rich? I mean, if you’re both going to get settled after you graduate…”

Richie put his middle finger up towards CJ, before looking at Eddie once again, “Business. Got to make the Pops proud. Surprising, since he literally could give two shits. I guess he wants to make me into something so he knows I haven’t been a complete waste of his life.”

Eddie’s heart sank at this, but Richie just looked back forwards, playing it off in a sarcastically comical tone. He didn’t know what to do.

CJ sighed, “Okay, didn’t mean to turn this south… We’re almost there.”

 

 

They finally arrived at the dorm. Eddie couldn’t really talk about the amazing wonders of Richie’s humble abode, though. All of the dorms looked the same.

They all went their separate ways, Eddie and Richie going into Richie’s room.

They stayed in there for a while whilst the two worked on their homework. Eddie was leaning against Richie’s chest in-between his legs as he studied. Richie had one hand playing at the fronds of hair at the nape of Eddie’s neck. Eddie tried to ignore Richie as he did this, feeling a tiredness wash over him, “What are two drugs that stop the heart permanently?”

“Is that an answer that they should be giving to students?” Richie asked behind Eddie, and he sighed.

“I’m about to take those drugs if I get these answers wrong… I hate tests. I know adenosine but I don’t remember the other one.” Eddie groaned once again in exasperation.

He thought for a moment, before Richie piped up, “Lignocaine.”

“How do you know that?” Eddie turned around to look at Richie. His eyes seemed to be in a daze, but he only smiled.

“I watch a lot of television.”

Eddie sighed, turning back, “Of course you do…” He felt Richie lean his head down to kiss at a spot behind his ear, “Thanks…”

After a moment of Eddie writing down the answer, Richie spoke up again, “So we’re not together, but do you still want to continue this?” Richie moved Eddie’s shoulder back to press their lips together.

After they pulled apart, Eddie huffed and pushed at his chest fondly, “You’re honestly insufferable.”

Richie gave Eddie one of his trademark grins, “Well, I’d like to know if we’re Facebook official as much as my fans do.”

“Well, for your fans…” Eddie chuckled. “We’re dating, happy?”

Richie’s smile grew impossibly wider, before he spoke in a posh British accent, “Ecstatic.”

After some roughhousing, the two went back to working on Eddie’s homework. Richie suddenly shuffled behind him, and Eddie groaned loudly, “I’m going to get a drink of water.”

“Okay...” Eddie said, watching as Richie made his way across the room, shutting the door behind him. Without Richie’s support, Eddie only plopped back down onto the empty bed space below him.

Richie made his way into the kitchen, watching CJ on the couch as he pulled out a glass from the cupboard. Once he turned the water on, CJ finally noticed him, getting up from the couch to stand next to Richie. His phone was in his hand, and he put it down from his face, looking up at the other man. Richie turned to him, taking a sip of his water, “What’s up?”

“I just got an email telling us who our new roommate is,” CJ grinned. He looked excited even though Richie knew he enjoyed some of the peace the dorm had received after Dale’s leaving.

Richie only raised his eyebrows for CJ to continue, taking another sip of his water. He himself didn’t really care as much, for he never really was in their dorm during the day, or even sometimes at night.

“Okay,” CJ flustered a bit from his excitement. “Our new roommate iiis…” He drummed his fingers on the island countertop dramatically.

“Raymond Lenzi!”

Richie almost spit the water out of his mouth. He gazed at CJ with wide eyes, who had his arms splayed out in the reveal. Before Richie could speak, though, a weak and shrill voice rang out from behind him.

“What?”


	7. Caught in a Riptide

Eddie didn’t realize he was hyperventilating until he had to speak again, noticing that he couldn’t breathe when Richie had turned his head towards him. Behind his glasses, Richie’s eyes were blown wide, and Eddie watched as he lunged towards him, feeling himself crumple to the floor with gasping breaths. Richie dropped down to his knees, gripping Eddie’s shoulders between his outstretched palms.

“Shit! Eddie!”

Eddie could barely hear Richie’s voice through the ringing in his ears. He gasped, trying to reach for an anchor of air that he couldn’t find. The first thing Eddie would do in this moment would be to grab for his inhaler, but he didn’t have one anymore. He didn’t own one anymore.

Fuck.

Eddie needed to ground himself, and fast, feeling the floor transpire underneath his fingertips. He needed to get a grip on his surroundings by using his senses. That usually helped whenever he didn’t have his inhaler with him. Right?

Eddie moved quickly, trying to feel at the ground underneath him as his nails scraped across the linoleum surface of the kitchen floor. He looked up, peering back into Richie’s wide and nervous eyes. Eddie tried to listen for his voice as he watched the other boy’s lips move. Eddie blinked fiercely as he tried to make out the words. The ringing began to subside once Richie began shaking his shoulders again.

“Eds. Eddie!”

Eddie looked past Richie, identifying the counters and cupboards that surrounded him. CJ was looking down at him, a worried expression in his eyes and creased in his brows. He was still in a sort of fearful shock. Eddie didn’t really blame him. It’s not everyday that your roomates boyfriend has a panic attack over a simple name. Eddie reached forward, and fisted his hand into Richie’s shirt. Richie looked down at it, his worry deepening even though he was beginning to come back. Eddie breathed slowly, sensing the fragrance of cigarette smoke and coconut that always seemed to stick to his boyfriend. He opened and closed his mouth, feeling a cottony relish that made him cringe. He just needed taste.

Shit.

Taste.

Eddie couldn’t do anything from down here. He could barely breathe rather than get up to go find something for his taste buds. Eddie gasped when two hands grabbed at his face, turning his head so that he could look into Richie’s eyes.

“Eds. I’m here.”

Eddie breathed in, finally feeling a small tunnel of air pass through his lungs.

He was.

Eddie didn’t hesitate before he quickly leaned forward, pushing his mouth against Richie’s into a chaste kiss.

Richie stilled, having no clue what the fuck was going on, as Eddie opened his mouth up to him and kissed at his lips desperately.

He finally felt the rock in his chest ebb away, the barriers to his lungs opening up to let life flow back into his blood. Eddie pulled away from Richie, taking a breath, before he looked back up into his eyes.

Richie still had a look of worry on his face, mixed in with confusion, and a tiny dot of relief. Eddie sighed, his lungs finally pushing in armfuls of air.

“I-I’m okay,” he said, realizing how raspy his voice was. Richie sighed, closing his eyes and tilting his head down, relieved. He pushed his arms past Eddie’s shoulders towards his back, pulling the smaller boy tightly against his chest. Eddie crumpled into him, tired now from his attack. He looked up past Richie, making eye contact with CJ, who looked surprised. Eddie tried to open his mouth up to apologize, before a loud chime echoed through the air.

Eddie grimaced a bit at the noise, gritting his teeth and trying not to complain. He watched as CJ started, pushing his hand into his pocket to pull out his phone. He didn’t talk to either of them before he pulled it up to his ear.

“Hello?”

Eddie tried to listen in on who CJ was talking to, before Richie pulled out of their hug and looked Eddie straight in the eyes.

“You okay?”

Eddie nodded, gulping down the rest of his emotions for now, “Yeah. I’m okay. Sorry about that…”

Richie shook his head, pulling Eddie’s head closer towards his own, “Never apologize.”

CJ clicked his phone off and turned to them, “Um… So… Is everyone okay?”

Richie nodded towards him before CJ suddenly broke, “What the hell just happened!?”

“It’s a long story,” Richie said, shaking his head. “I’ll fill you in later.”

CJ nodded, putting his tongue into his cheek.

“Is there anything I can get you guys…?”

Eddie spoke up, shaking his head, “No. It’s fine.” He got up to brush his legs off hastily. Richie still sat on the floor. He was looking up at Eddie wearily. He reached his arm up as Eddie began walking towards the entrance.

“Eds-”

Eddie opened up the front door, feeling the cool air of the hallway breeze into his face. He looked behind him at a bewildered CJ, and a sullen Richie on the floor.

“It’s fine.”

The door closed with a quiet click.

 

 

Instead of going back to his dorm, Eddie decided on detouring towards Beverly’s instead. He needed to let his frustrations out on somebody.

Eddie walked through the sidewalks of the campus, shivering as tears fell down the planes of his cheeks. Why did he have to be so afraid all of the time? It seemed like no matter what he did, his anxiety would always get in the way. Eddie entered the girl’s dormitories, hunching his shoulders when a few women by the entrance narrowed their eyes at him. 

Once he reached the second floor, Eddie sidled up next to the door before giving it a skeptical, quiet knock.The door opened to reveal a red freckled face with wild auburn hair. Surprised blue eyes stared back at him.

“Eddie?”

Eddie gave Beverly a short wave. She opened the door up, revealing another one of those identical dorms, and let him inside. Eddie immediately walked straight towards her couch, flopping down onto it. He looked up, noticing the episode of New Girl that she was watching. She hurried forward, grabbing the remote and quickly turning it off. Eddie grinned up at her knowingly, before she groaned and sat down next to him.

“What’s up?”

Eddie let out an exasperated sigh, explaining to Beverly that something was up, “Are you okay? You don’t look too good.”

Eddie shook his head, “I was at Richie’s…”

“Uh oh,” Beverly chuckled.

Eddie put his hands over his eyes, groaning once again, “I just had a fucking asthma attack on his floor. His roommate watched me freak out the entire time.”

Beverly turned fully towards him, her face now pinched into concern, “Wait… So what happened?”

Eddie sat up from his position on her couch, moving himself back into a corner where the cushions met. He crossed his arms, trying to sink into its mouldy form.

“I was doing homework with Richie when his roommate, CJ, told him about their new dorm mate. I overheard it and freaked the fuck out. I did that exercise I usually do when I feel like I’m spinning out of control, but I’m pretty sure I freaked Richie the fuck out when I kissed him, because he probably thought I was trying to suck out his soul.”

Beverly paused for a moment, “Wait… What?”

Eddie looked over at her with furrowed brows, “What?”

“Did you just say you kissed Richie?”

Eddie’s eyes widened considerably then. He began to remember about how his friends didn’t know about them yet.

“Yeeesss…?”

“Holy shit!” Beverly chuckled to herself. “Fucking finally! How did he react?”

Eddie bit at his lip anxiously, “Well… the first time he kissed me back.”

“WHAT!?” Eddie watched with wide eyes as Beverly reached behind herself, pulling out a large Burgundy pillow. She smashed it down onto his head dramatically.

“Ow! What the fuck!?”

Beverly was glaring down at him, a fire in her eyes that matched perfectly with the color of her hair.

“You never told me!? Making me look like a fool while I thought you two were still pining over each other!?”

“Alright! Okay! I’m sorry!” Eddie put his hands up to try and cover her blows.

Beverly stopped, giving him a half-hearted push, “So you two are dating now?”

Eddie nodded, giving Beverly a small smile. She grinned back at him, enveloping her arms around Eddie’s shoulders to squeeze him tightly.

“I’m sure he understands, Eddie. I mean, you would know. It takes a lot to drive someone like Richie away.”

“Thanks Bev,” Eddie’s shoulders sagged. The whole event had tired him considerably.

“No prob-,” the phone on the coffee table in front of them suddenly came to life. The din echoed throughout the dorm, and Beverly leaned forward to take it out of its holster.

She put it up to her ear, “Hello?”

Eddie watched her for a minute, not knowing who was on the other line. The jabber from the phone seemed rushed and worried, and Beverly’s face began to soften. She turned her head to look at Eddie, and he saw that she had a sorrowful expression in her eyes. Eddie couldn’t help his efforts to try and hide from her gaze. She pointed at the phone, “It’s Richie.”

Eddie hesitated for a second before he nodded. She handed the phone to him, and he put it up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“Eddie!” He heard the relief in Richie’s voice at his greeting.

“Yeah! Hey, it’s me…” Eddie said, giving a fake enthusiastic smile even though he knew Richie couldn’t see it. Beverly tapped at his arm. He looked up at her to see raised eyebrows in a warning. Eddie sighed.

“Are you okay? Did I do something wrong?” Richie asked.

“No… I just needed some space.”

“You still like me, right?”

“No, you disgust me,” Eddie smiled at the hearty chuckle Richie emitted at that. “I’m okay, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Richie let out a breath at the other end of the line, “Alright, beautiful. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Eddie hung up the phone as he felt his heart banging against the two walls of his ribcage.

“Everything good?” Beverly was looking at him with a concerned expression. Eddie looked back at her. He felt a lot better whenever he talked to her.

“Yeah. All good.”

“Good,” Beverly said grinning. She grabbed the phone from Eddie’s hand and placed it back onto the coffee table, “Because you’re sleeping over.”

Eddie watched as she reached behind herself to grab her cell phone. She tapped on it for a second before his ears picked up the song Wild, Wild Life coming from its speaker.

Eddie shook his head, amused, “What? Am I just supposed to sleep in this?”

Beverly got up to stand on the couch. She looked down at him, still smiling.

“You can borrow a pair of my shorts and a tee shirt. Just don’t get too comfortable.”

Eddie grinned, taking a moment with the music, “You know, I prefer Once in a Lifetime.”

 

 

“Happy birthday, Sarah!”

Eddie moved forward to hug her, gripping her shoulders tight and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Sarah giggled, hugging him back with the same amount of force. Eddie pulled back, looking at the others who were sat at their same old booth. They were holding Sarah’s party at The Pavilion. Eddie felt a little skeptical about it, but he didn’t want his anxiety to ruin someone’s fun. Not like it always has.

He saw Bev, who gave him a thumbs up. Bill and Stan were facing each other and talking in bubbly voices, while Mike and Ben were talking to each other about something else. Eddie’s eyes landed onto Richie, who was twiddling his thumbs and looking down at his lap nervously.

Eddie moved forward, blatantly pushing his butt down onto Richie’s thigh until he moved over. Richie looked up at him, a smile growing on his face. Eddie smiled back as he felt his stomach cringe ticklishly. He reached down, finding Richie’s hand and lacing their fingers together. Richie gave Eddie’s hand a little squeeze, before he looked onwards at the other group.

“Hear ye, hear ye!” Richie said while Eddie rolled his eyes. He obviously already had a drink tonight. “Tonight is this here young lady’s birthday, so let us give her a round of applause!”

Beverly whooped while the rest of the losers clapped. Sarah looked at Richie, pretending to be mad while a blush grew over her cheeks.

“Now, we are going to have an awesome night tonight! So let’s party!”

Eddie cheered, grabbing Beverly’s hand as she went up to dance. He swayed with her, giggling as they tried their hardest in doing the salsa, and failing miserably. Soon, Sarah joined in. Then Ben, Mike, Stan and Bill. Richie joined in later, watching as the group danced around with a small smile on his face. As Eddie did the twisty-twist with Sarah, he caught Richie’s eye. They seemed darker than normal. Eddie couldn’t quite pinpoint his expression. It seemed like a look of hunger.

Eddie felt a shiver brush up his spine and a blush course down his cheeks, before Sarah grabbed him to do the sprinkler.

As it became darker, slower music started to come on. Richie walked up to Eddie. His hand was out, and Eddie took it, exclaiming when Richie gracefully pulled Eddie against his chest. They swayed along with each other as Eddie put his face into the crook of Richie’s neck. Richie laid his head against the side of Eddie’s, humming along to the music and tightening his hand around his waist.

Beverly looked on as she danced with Sarah, a small smile on her lips. Sarah looked up, seeing what Beverly had been staring at, and smiling too. Ben spoke up next to them.

“Yeah, and Eddie can’t admit that he likes Richie back… When will those two ever get together?”

Beverly looked over at Ben, a sparkle in her eyes despite the shrug she gave him. “I don’t know,” she lied for the two boys.

The group was soon back at their table, Beverly ordering drinks for everyone. Eddie looked around the restaurant, feeling a happy daze run through his veins in his drunk-ish state. Unlike last time, Eddie actually ordered himself a full drink. Richie commented on this with approval, patting Eddie on the back with a ‘that’s my Eds!’

Soon Richie had left the table to go to the bathroom. Eddie held his hand up towards him when he noticed Richie coming back, but stopped midway when he saw that Richie was talking to somebody.

Before he could see who it was, though, their waiter soon came back to take their orders. Eddie watched as the rest of his friends listed off their meals, only looking at the menu for a second before replying. He chuckled to himself at how many times they’ve been there. They’ve practically memorized the menu.

Then it was his turn. Eddie stumbled a bit before ordering a turkey burger, closing the menu up and handing it towards the waiter gracelessly. Once she walked away, Eddie tilted his head outside of the booth to see Richie’s conversation culprit.

Eddie thought he might’ve had another panic attack then and there.

It was Raymond.

Eddie wanted to sprint up and out of his seat, to bolt towards Richie and warn him of the person he was talking to. The only problem was, Richie already knew. He knew who Raymond was, and Raymond did nothing wrong.

Raymond was going to be his new roommate.

Eddie began to feel lightheaded. He reached for his napkin quickly, pushing it against the side of his glass and then against his forehead. He breathed deeply, ignoring the looks he got from the other patrons.

Bill looked at him with curious eyes, “He-Hey, Eddie. Yo-You o-okay?”

“Yeah,” Eddie sighed, opening his eyes and looking at Bill with a sincere expression. Bill gave him a small smile, clapping Eddie on the shoulder before he turned back towards Mike to continue their conversation.

Eddie decided to ignore his anxiety. Richie would be fine. It already looked like the two were in deep conversation. He was just being paranoid.

Eddie hated that about himself.

 

 

When Richie exited the bathroom, he didn’t really expect on meeting up with his new roommate already. His stomach was churning as he walked back to his seat, eyes on Eddie with his nicely fitted jean jacket. His eyes shone under the light above their booth, and his smile made Richie’s stomach tumble in a different direction.

He was quickly interrupted from his reverie, when a face fell darkly in front of his own. A different set of dark brown eyes were staring into his intensely, and light blond hair was flown up in intimidating spikes.

“Hey, Richie?”

Richie narrowed his eyes at the man who was practically eye level with him.

“What do you want Raymond?”

“I wanted to apologize. I know we’re going to be roommates soon… which was entirely unintentional by the way! But I want you to understand that what happened with… Eddie? It was a big misunderstanding.”

Richie nodded, putting his tongue into his cheek, “Yeah, I know. He told me.”

Raymond sighed a bit, but his shoulders still seemed tense, “I was never intending on doing that from the start, and I hope that we could put that behind us and become friends?”

Richie suddenly felt guilty. Why was Raymond apologizing? He was the one who beat him up when Raymond had done nothing other than what Eddie had asked him to do.

“Don’t be sorry. I was the one who was being unreasonable. We’re good,” Richie put his hand out in a fist bump, watching as Raymond reciprocated it with a small smile.

“Good,” Raymond nodded, almost too quickly. Richie looked behind him, his brows furrowing when he saw that Eddie had a napkin up to his forehead. He turned back towards Raymond, his expression more serious now.

“You should probably talk to Eddie, though. He’s kind of spazzing about what happened.”

Raymond nodded, swallowing thickly. The two of them turned back towards the booth where Richie came from, only to find that Eddie had disappeared.

 

 

Eddie sighed as the cool air cascaded across his face, looking out towards the boys’ dorms that weren’t far from The Pavilion itself.

He had felt himself getting stuffy in there, and decided on getting a breath of fresh air. He didn’t want to make matters worse for his body. It hadn’t even been a few days since he had a panic attack on Richie’s kitchen floor.

Eddie admired the scuff his sneakers made as he walked towards the side of the building. He leaned against it, feeling the smooth and cool surface that lay on the outside. He closed his eyes, thinking about their break that was coming ever so closer.

It would be nice to have a whole week he could share with his boyfriend. They could cuddle up on Eddie’s bed, while Richie would play with his hair in a way that would make Eddie fall asleep in his arms. They’d most likely be watching a movie, Richie making ridiculous comments about it or imitating any voices he could find from certain characters. If a movie wasn’t playing, they’d be snuggled together in the dark while they swapped sweet nothings with each other.

They’d wake up in the late morning, and Eddie would turn over to count the starry freckles that dotted his boyfriend’s face. His eyes would probably open then, and Eddie would try and look away, flushed with embarrassment. The flush on his face would probably give it away though.

They would go to the diner and order breakfast. Richie would probably get a full stack of chocolate chip pancakes, layering it with syrup while Eddie ordered an omelette. Maybe he would have a couple pieces of Richie’s food. Richie would insist on paying the bill, and Eddie could imagine himself swatting at him flusteredly, telling him he could pay. Richie would make it happen anyways.

They would probably go back to his room, and Eddie would kiss at Richie’s lips. He’d taste the sweet chocolate on his tongue, and they could do whatever else they wanted that day, only to wake up in the morning and do it all over again.

Eddie sighed, closing his eyes as he imagined it, before a prolonged buzz took him out of his bliss. Eddie looked down as he reached into his pocket. He pulled his phone out. It was his mother.

Momma: So excited to see you when you come home baby! Only 11 more days to go! xoxo

Eddie wanted to throw a fit. He wanted to scream towards the heavens and stomp his feet down onto the hard pavement. He wanted to punch a wall, or watch somebody suffer the pain that he’s had to face. It wasn’t fair.

Eddie shook his head, trying to clear his mind almost physically. He took a deep breath, opening his eyes to look at the yellow flowers before his feet. They thinly swayed in the sharp breeze.

Eddie felt the air grow colder as wind rushed from his side. He gasped, looking to his left to see who might’ve joined him. They certainly scared the shit out of him.

Eddie squinted his eyes when he saw a broad shouldered figure standing in front of him. He had gleaming brazen skin, and a dark head of curls that seemed to float way above his hairline. His dark eyes were glaring into Eddie’s.

Eddie suddenly remembered his talk with Beverly in the parking lot, when he had spotted Raymond, and the guy who was standing in front of him now. He remembered those same dark eyes glaring into his, a threat passing its way through the air, and exploding into Eddie’s senses.

The man took a step forward, and Eddie was already turning to run when two strong hands grabbed at his hips and pushed him to the ground.

Eddie tried crying out, before his pleas were muffled by those same hands. He was turned over, and could barely make out the stranger’s face before a sharp immersive pain scorched through his cheek. He felt a fist crack into his face a second time. The pain seemed unbearable, and Eddie felt tears well up in his eyes when he was hit once again. Harder.

Eddie tried to yell out, scream, only hearing his muffled voice underneath the powerful hand covering his mouth. He was pressing down as his fist cracked onto Eddie’s cheekbone once again. His face felt tight as he began to hyperventilate. He took gasping breaths as he tried to shield himself in any way from his attacker’s blows.

Before he knew it, he felt a fuzziness begin to form in front of his eyes, and in a matter of seconds, everything went black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to send Sarah some birthday wishes!


	8. Spirit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gee, guys, yesterday was insane. Who knew a tornado would be the driving force for me to actually post? I'm still so shooketh and I haven't proofread the last half of this, so please excuse me... or don't. You have every right not to.
> 
> Anywho, this chapter is a semi-filler. The next one is going to be a little angsty before we get to that happy ending! Our Rich boy's got to deal with some shit, too :/

Eddie came back to when the sounds of yelling voices pierced through his ears. It was dim at first, but soon became louder and was conforming itself.

“I swear, I’m going to kill you! Tell me the truth. Now!”

“I’m telling you! I had nothing to do with this.”

The events of before rushed back towards Eddie like a whirlwind, and he suddenly cringed at the pain he felt in his head. He groaned involuntarily, not knowing that he had startled the two people who had been arguing above him. Eddie opened his eyes up slowly, much to his dislike, and blearily looked around the room. His head was pounding.

He assumed he was in Richie’s dorm (the couch had that odd dent he always noticed whenever he was over), and was laid out on the couch in an awkward position. He shuffled a bit, pulling his aching arm out from underneath his chest. The fuzziness from his sleep had fully diminished, and Eddie saw that the two people who had been yelling stopped. He looked over past the top of the couch, and saw that Raymond and Richie were looking at him with anxious expressions. Richie’s brows were scrunched together in anger, and Eddie concluded that it had been Richie who made the threat.

He came forward, squatting down with both hands on either side of the couch.

“You good?”

Eddie was confused, not expecting that that would be the first thing Richie say to him. He nodded hastily either way.

“Ye-Yeah.”

Richie didn’t say anymore, turning around and continuing his rage on Raymond.

“You’re lucky he’s okay, but you’re still dead meat Lenzi!”

Raymond was looking at Richie, concern and confusion in his eyes at the accusation. Eddie shook his head, trying his best to get up off the couch with his pulsing brain.

“It wasn’t him.”

Richie stopped midway through his next sentence, looking over at Eddie with incredulity in his eyes.

“What do you mean? Who the hell else would do this!?”

Eddie walked over to Richie’s side, putting a hand onto his chest. Richie’s face was tense with anger and concern. Eddie looked him in the eyes, taking a deep breath.

“Richie. It wasn’t him.”

Richie shook his head, disbelieving, “Well then he set someone up on you.”

“I didn’t!” Raymond almost screamed, and Eddie cringed at the echo it sent through his skull. He couldn’t help the groan that escaped his lips, which only spurred Richie on, “I don’t believe you.”

“You’ve gotta,” Raymond sighed, putting his head into his hands.

“I do,” Eddie said, looking at Raymond for any reason why he shouldn’t. He looked disheveled, hair a mess and, under his eyes, purple bags. He was looking down at Eddie, relief in his eyes. Richie crossed his arms over his chest, shaking his head before he turned towards Eddie.

“So who did it?”

Eddie thought for a moment, trying to picture the guy who had beat him up before he had blacked out. He remembered the dark skin and hair, the dark brown eyes he had seen in the parking lot that day. Eddie told this to them, and noticed the look of surprise that soon overtook Raymond’s face.

“Shit…” he whispered. Richie’s head snapped to his right, and he glared at him.

“What?”

Raymond seemed bewildered for a moment, like he had seen a ghost. Eddie snapped a finger in front of him to see if he would answer. Raymond shook his head, walking towards the door to grab his coat, “It’s my boyfriend. I told him about what happened after that night. I didn’t think he was going to do anything!”

Eddie glared at Raymond while he put his shoes on, “You were dating someone when that happened?”

Raymond looked up at him, an embarrassed flush along the bridge of his nose.

“I was drunk, give me a break.”

Once his shoes were on, Raymond turned and walked towards the door. He placed his hand onto the handle before Richie interrupted him, “Where do you think you’re going?”

Raymond groaned, raising his eyes up towards the ceiling while he leaned back.

“To Javi’s.”

There was silence for a moment.

“My, now, ex-boyfriend’s.”

 

 

Once Raymond left, Richie took the time to heal Eddie up in his shared bathroom. When they first entered, Eddie had looked at himself in the mirror. His right cheekbone was inflamed, and around his eye there was a darkening purple bruise. He cringed at the sight, leaning forward and poking at his eye lightly. He let out a hiss when he accidentally pressed too hard.

Eddie sat on the edge of the tub, Richie on the seat of the toilet, as he worked with the first aid kit he had in his hands. Richie dabbed at a small cut that was at the top of Eddie’s nose.

Eddie tried breaking the silence, caving under the heavy tension that hovered over the room, “Does it look bad?”

“Nah,” Richie said, shaking his head. “Put a little makeup on it and you should be good.”

Eddie nodded, tightening his fists around his shirt when he felt a sharp pain from the peroxide.

“Sorry,” Richie said, still looking at his work on Eddie’s cut.

Eddie didn’t say anything, just looked down at his hands in his lap as he thought about what had happened. He thought about Richie. It seemed like he had always been there for him through thick and thin, but also still put up with him, and maybe even loved him. Eddie felt an airy feeling spread throughout his chest, and he couldn’t help gushing internally at what Richie had done for him these past few months.

Eddie didn’t realize he had been staring at Richie when a hand was waved in front of his face. Richie’s voice rang in clearly through his ears, “Earth to Eddie?”

Eddie startled, looking Richie in his eyes. They were mockingly suggestive, making Eddie grumble as he looked down at the blossoming grin along Richie’s lips, “Did you get a concussion or am I just that irresistible?” He joked, letting out a soft chuckle.

Eddie couldn’t allow this feeling in his chest to go down, so he only smiled in return, leaning forward with no words and hugging Richie around his neck. Richie stood still for a moment, surprised at the unexpected gesture, before he wrapped his arms around Eddie’s waist, holding him too. They stayed like that for a minute, before Eddie pulled back, a soft smile on his face.

“Thanks, Rich.”

Richie shook his head, “No problem, but I didn’t really do anything.” He looked down, a small pink flourish lining along his cheeks. Eddie reached forward, grabbing for Richie’s hand and intertwining their fingers together.

“You did a lot of things… and I love you…”

“What?” Richie asked, his pupils blowing wide at Eddie’s confession. This was the last thing he’d expect to come out of Eddie’s mouth.

Eddie began to giggle, clutching at Richie’s hands and leaning forward out of pure joy. Richie pulled one of Eddie’s hands up towards his lips, kissing the back of it chastely, “I love you, too, Eds.”

 

 

The next time Eddie saw Javier, he was at the school’s coffee shop getting his routine almond milk macchiato. Eddie was in line, tapping his foot to a beat as he listened to Billy Idol through the one earbud he had in, when he looked over to see him alone at a small table. Eddie sighed, before walking up. It was his turn to order.

After his payment, Eddie stood by the counter to wait for his drink, eyeing Javier as he thought. Eddie didn’t like him as much as the next person (he had every reason to hate him), but he never could help the feeling of empathy he felt whenever he saw someone sitting alone. It reminded him of his times in elementary school, before he met Bill.

Eddie sighed, grabbing his drink off the counter after the announcement of his name, and made his way over to the table that Javier was sitting at. He pulled out a chair, sitting down pointedly as Javi looked up at him. Surprise swept over his face, then anger and confusion. He looked down at the table, “What do you want?” His voice was weak in comparison to his words.

“I want to make sure you’re not going to beat me up again,” Eddie said, feeling a sudden rush of confidence in his more powerful state. Javier shook his head.

“Fuck off.”

“Listen,” Eddie leaned forward with his hands clasped underneath his chest. “I know Raymond broke up with you, but you’re just going to have to get over it.”

“What would you know?” Javi asked, his eyes fiery with deceit. “You practically fuck every boy you can lay your hands on. It should be easy for you to get over it.”

Eddie held back his anger, gritting his teeth behind his lips. He took a deep breath, thinking of anything that might get him on Javi’s good side.

“No… I don’t… but I get why you did it,” Eddie explained, taking a sip of his drink. He tried not to flinch at the burn down his throat, keeping his cool.

“Thanks. I guess,” Javi shrugged, taking a sip of his drink, too. Eddie perked up in his break, and tried testing the waters.

“So… are we good?”

Javi shrugged, lowering his head and shaking it solemnly, “Whatever… hurting you again wouldn’t be worth the suspension anyways.”

Eddie beamed at the other boy, not expecting anything more, and leaned forward, shaking his hand. He noticed the dark bruising on Javi’s knuckles, and soon remembered the ferocity of Javier’s punches. Eddie tried ignoring it as he continued with his endeavors.

After doing so, Eddie got up. Javi had a raised eyebrow towards him, but Eddie got what he had wanted. They were on semi-good terms now, and they could finally put this all behind them.

 

 

Richie walked back towards the car, a brown paper bag clasped in his hand. He knocked on the passenger’s side window, peering inside to see Beverly in the driver’s seat. She rolled the window down, leaning over to grin up at Richie.

“Thanks for the food, babe.”

Richie raised a sarcastic eyebrow, tossing the bag at her with a soft chuckle, “Yeah, yeah. You owe me, Marsh.”

Beverly took the bag, opening it up while Richie climbed in next to her. She pulled a tinfoiled sandwich out, passing it over to Richie so she could find her own. The two started to eat, looking out the front window as it began to drizzle.

“So…” Bev said after taking a bite of her sandwich, ‘What took you so long in there?”

Richie shook his head, savoring the taste of his turkey club, “I traveled into a past life while I pushed out a big shit. Give me a break.”

Beverly scrunched her nose at that, groaning in disgust. Richie only chuckled, listening as Beverly changed the subject, “Eddie told me that you guys are dating.”

Richie raised his eyebrows, turning towards her incredulously, “Shit, did Eddie just come clean about it?”

Beverly shook her head, “No, it was an accident.” She took another bite out of her sandwich. Richie did the same, “So much for the forbidden lovers…”

There was silence for a moment before she spoke up again, “I guess I might as well tell you that me and Sarah are dating.”

Richie perked up at that, too, “You are?”

Beverly nodded, giving him a kind smile. Richie reciprocated it, beaming at her enthusiastically as he put a hand onto Beverly’s shoulder, “Damn, I must have been in that past life for a while! What else don’t I know!?”

Beverly looked at Richie with a careful expression, quirking her lip, “Bill and Stan…?”

Richie suddenly jolted away from Beverly, leaning up in his seat with his arms outstretched. He looked like a civilian who had just found out it was raining money. In one of his imitations, Richie cried out, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

Beverly was cackling, hiding her hands in front of her face when two passerbys looked at them oddly. Richie didn’t stop, only exclaiming louder. He only stopped after a short while, when Beverly began to drive, trying to drown his voice out by turning up her music.

 

 

Eddie woke up to the sound of birds chirping. He scrunched his nose at the intrusion, preferring the peaceful drone of Richie’s soft breaths against his ear. He carefully peaked his eyes open, thanking the heavens that he wasn’t facing Richie’s bedroom window. Eddie leaned up, carefully pulling Richie’s arm off of him, and looked around the room. He cringed at what had happened last night. He knew he and Richie were dating, but it was still pretty pathetic to come over to your boyfriend’s house, desperate from the lack of contact, just because you missed making out with him.

Thankfully, Richie hadn’t denied the offer. They made out on his bed until the both of them had fallen asleep. Eddie suddenly realized the dried drool that was attached to his chin, and quickly grabbed at the tissues on Richie’s counter to get rid of the evidence. Eddie looked down at him, a small smile on his lips as he playfully pushed his hand through his hair. He got up, pulling his shirt back on as he made his way into the kitchen.

Eddie started when he saw that Raymond was there, not quite used to the idea that Raymond was now Richie’s new roommate. He couldn’t help looking down as he whispered out a greeting, “Morning.”

Raymond looked up, surprise and then guilt washing over his face. He watched as Eddie sat at the island behind him. He turned around, holding up a spatula, “I made breakfast if you’re hungry.”

“Thanks…” Eddie said, deciding that his cuticles were more important than the conversation he was having. Raymond sighed, grabbing a plate and pushing some eggs onto it. He pushed it over towards Eddie on the counter, tuning around fully to look at him. He leaned back, putting his tongue into his cheek shyly, “Listen… I’m sorry about all of this.”

Eddie looked up, “You really don’t have to be.”

Raymond shook his head, leaning forward towards Eddie earnestly, “I understand, but what happened took its toll on you. You didn’t deserve that.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. He now looked Raymond in the eyes as he went on, “Richie told me how much it was affecting you. I just wanted to apologize, and I hope I can still be your friend once this completely blows over.”

Eddie smiled softly, “We are friends.”

Raymond grinned, nodding, “Thanks, Eddie.”

Eddie finished eating, waving Raymond goodbye as he pulled his jacket over his wrinkled shirt. He opened the door, looking back towards Richie’s room before he made his way back.

 

 

Eddie pulled up the sleeves of his jacket, enjoying the feel of the warm weather against his skin. He let out a sigh, making his way across the path as he soaked in some Vitamin D. He looked around at the people on campus. A couple of guys were playing frisbee in the grass. Meanwhile, certain wallflowers worked on their assignments under the shade of a tree.

Eddie looked to his right, catching the eye of a certain hazel skinned man. Before he knew what was happening, Javi waved to him, a pinched smile on his face. Eddie was caught off guard, only waving back after about five seconds. They didn’t do anything else, but Eddie felt much better knowing that their incident was just about ostracized.

He suddenly felt a vibration in his pocket, and he pulled his phone out. The blue light illuminated his face as he read the text he had just gotten from Richie.

Rich: Left already? I miss cuddling you ! I guess it sucks you don’t get a goodbye kiss ;)

Eddie smiled, typing his response as he opened up the door to his shared room.

Spaghetti: It sounds like you’re directing this towards my ass.

Rich: Don’t get too jealous baby

Eddie closed his phone, looking up when he saw that Bill and Stan were on the couch.

“Hey guys,” he smiled at them when Stan turned towards him.

“Hey,” he smiled back, giving Eddie a once over. “Where were you?” Stan’s eyes were knowing, and Eddie gratefully remembered the fact that they didn’t know about him and Richie yet.

“Just, uh… at the coffee shop,” Eddie grunted out. Stan raised an eyebrow at him, before Eddie knew that he had fucked up.

“I don’t see any coffee in your hands.”

Eddie silently groaned to himself, wishing that he had wasted another two of his dollars just so that he could derail the fact that his friends still thought he was trailing Richie like a puppy. He cleared his throat, starting to rock on his heels, “I was meeting up with someone.”

“Someone like Richie,” Stan snorted amusedly, and didn’t miss the blush and small smile it emitted from the smaller man.

Bill leaned over, jumping into their conversation with a grin on his face, “Anytime you’re sm-smiling, it’s eith-ther because of Richie or a go-good gr-gr-grade.”

“Or maybe I’m just excited that the weather’s nice today. Yesterday was horrible,” Eddie sighed. Stan pointed at him, relentless in his observations.

“Maybe it’s just really hot out, but I don’t think the topic of weather would really make you blush.”

Eddie foolishly tried to cover his cheeks at that. As if he could make the pink go away at will. He cursed himself, his body temperature always betraying him.

Eddie only turned around, letting the others know he was done with their conversation. He jerked a thumb towards his room, “I’m gonna go get ready for class.” He felt their eyes trail him even as he closed his bedroom door.

 

 

Stan didn’t say anymore once they finally got to their Latin class. Beverly was waiting for them at her desk. She perked up once the two of them entered, running forward and shoving her phone into Eddie’s face.

“What does this mean?” She almost yelled, and Stan had to speak up so that they couldn’t draw any unwanted attention. Edde took a moment before he peered into the bright white of the screen before him. It was nothing. Just a misinterpreted text from Sarah on Beverly’s part. Eddie looked up at Bev, “If you’re worried that she’s being passive-aggressive then that’s not what’s going on.”

Beverly hummed, sighed, typed something back out to Sarah, and put her phone away back into her pocket. She led them two of them back to the trio of desks they shared in the middle of the classroom. They all sat down. Eddie looked over at Beverly, So, how are things going with Sarah?”

“They’re good,” Beverly smiled, and Eddie felt something swell in his chest. He’d never seen Bev look as happy as she did right now, and he was happy for her.

“How about you and… Richie?” Bev asked, peering between Eddie and Stan questioningly, before giving Eddie a not so subtle wink. Stan peered his eyes over at Eddie, before he looked back at Bev with the same glare, “I’m not stupid you two, so tell me what’s going on?”

Eddie sighed, they were all going to find out eventually.

“We’re dating.”

Stan grinned at Eddie, “Good to know. I’m glad you were finally able to tell me.”

Eddie’s eyes widened considerably, “That wasn’t much of a reaction.”

Stan shrugged, “How is it supposed to be a surprise when you already know what’s going to happen?”

Then the teacher walked into the room.

 

 

Eddie gathered his books up once their teacher dismissed them, hurriedly walking out into the warming spring air so that he wouldn’t be late for Ben to pick him up. Beverly and Stan followed after him, giving him a wave goodbye as they made their way towards Stan’s car. Eddie waved back, smiling after them when he saw a familiar silver Lexus pull up in front of him. He looked over, finding a glass-clad Ben Hanscom who was waving him over.

Eddie walked up, about to go around towards the other side of the car--from the back. He wasn’t about to die--when Ben cleared his throat loudly. Eddie looked at him skeptically as Ben nodded his head towards his right.

“We have an extra passenger today.”

Eddie scrunched his nose, annoyed at the fact that somebody would take his respective (and very comfortable) seat in Ben’s car. He decided not to complain, opting to just hop inside so that the, now three of them, could get to class.

Once he got inside, the first thing Eddie did was peer over towards the front seat. There, he saw a lanky figure with wild hair turning around to give him a lopsided, dopey, buck-toothed grin.

“Of course it’s you,” Eddie pretended to complain, despite the fact that he now had a small smile on his face.

Richie’s eyes only sparkled merrily, “Nice to see ya, Eds.”

 

 

Eddie tapped his fingers mercilessly on the desk as he watched their teacher, Mrs. Brewer, talk to the class about how they were doing. Of course there was the routine words ‘hardworking’ and ‘wonderful’ that spewed from his lips. He knew as she talked that she had picked out a few favorites from the class (ex. Richie), and he knew from that glint in her eyes that she must have been shading his lack of talent. Eddie didn’t care. He knew throughout this entire thing he had done a completely shitty job. He literally told everyone who had recommended the class to him that he sucked at it, yet here he was.

Eddie didn’t mind, though. The class definitely had its perks (ex. Richie), but he was starting to get tired of creating things that he knew he would never improve on. It wasn’t a bad thing, per se, but art wasn’t his forté.

Eddie glanced over at Richie. He was drawing on his desk just like he did every Friday, tongue sticking out of his lips as he scribbled aimlessly all over the smooth wood. Eddie had to admit that he was starting to get a little bit antsy. As much as he loves Richie, he couldn’t help but feel a little helpless in their relationship. He wanted more than quick kisses shared in their hideouts of each other’s abodes. He wanted some passion. He wanted to be with Richie, and school was getting in the way of that in more ways than one.

Eddie sighed, waiting for Mrs. Brewer to finish so that she get on with whatever she wanted to do today. Thankfully they were reaching the end of the year.

She cleared her throat hastily, “Before we leave today, I’d also like to inform you guys on our final project for this year. I’m sure you and your partners have gotten close over these past months, and now it’s time to show them through your own eyes.”

Eddie half-heartedly listened in on this, mainly ecstatic at the words ‘final project’ coming into his head.

“In summary, after your break you guys will be creating a drawing of each other.”

Eddie looked over.

Richie was still hastily scratching the surface of his own desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to talk, I'm on tumblr @foureyestozier !


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